Strong Enough
by Patience Memory
Summary: Danny Fenton lost everything. Broken and alone he closes himself to the world, but when he meets a team as unique as he is things change. Can the Teen Titans get Danny to open up? Can they show him that the strength he lacks has been within him all along?
1. The Hunter And the Hunted

Strong Enough (a Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter One: The Hunter And The Hunted

"Danny?"

The boy tore his eyes from the destruction around him and looked at the girl at his side. "Danny, you don't have to do this." she said, "You don't have to leave."

Danny looked at the ash covered ground. He noticed a singed book cover with two sides buried in the debris. He reached down and pulled it out. He recognized it. It had been his mother's. He dusted it off gently and placed it in one of his two bags.

"Sam's right Danny. We're still here for you. You're not all alone." Tuck said. The moon glared off the boy's glasses, so that Danny couldn't see his eyes.

"Tucker you don't understand. I can't stay here in Amity Park. It's too dangerous." Danny said.

Sam stopped and turned him toward her. The moon lit only a side of her pale face. Danny looked into her violet eyes in wonder, as if he'd never really seen them before.

"At least let us come with you."

"No Sam." said Danny "I have to do this alone. You guys have families, and school. You can't just leave."

"And you can?"

"Yes." Danny said stubbornly.

The three friends started to walk again, avoiding the large pieces of twisted metal and shards of glass as best they could.

Tucker cleared his throat. "I'm gonna miss you dude."

"I'll miss you too Tuck."

The sun began to come over the horizon. Danny had to leave soon or someone might see him. Part of him wanted his friends by his side; all of him really. But he wouldn't tell them that. They were all he had left. He had to protect them, and the only way he could do that was to disappear from their lives.

Danny looked down at his hands. "Don't forget me." He said.

Sam grabbed him in a fierce bear hug. "Really Danny, that's impossible."

Danny smiled.

"Where will you go?" She asked.

"I don't know. Just away from Amity."

"Danny, you've been through so much."

"We all have."

Sam let him go. "Promise me something."

Danny nodded.

"Learn to trust again." She said softly.

Danny felt sick. Jazz had trusted him. His parents had trusted him. That's why he had to leave. He hadn't been strong enough to keep them safe, and he wasn't strong enough to keep his friends safe. Danny felt chills go down his back as he thought about the note concealed in his bag, the dreams about Dark Dan. But he couldn't tell Sam about that.

No one could ever know about that.

He looked at Sam. "I… I'll try."

She gave him one last hug.

Danny turned to Tucker. "Maybe this will clear up, and I can come back. Then you won't be the only dork with their photo in the yearbook." He joked weakly.

They both knew it was a lie. They probably would never see each other again, and things were NOT going to clear up. Tuck laughed anyways. He gave Danny a hug.

"Take care."

Danny looked from Tucker to Sam and back again. He couldn't believe he was saying this. "Goodbye guys."

Danny walked away from them, looking both ways out of old habit. There was no one around this early in the morning; that had been the plan. A ring of white light appeared around him. It split, half going up his body, half down into the ground. As the light past over him his features changed. His jet black hair turned snow white, his ice blue eyes a neon green, and instead of wearing his normal t-shirt and pants he was wearing a black suit with white gloves, boots, belt, and neckline. He stepped forward and took to the air, away from his old life, his friends. He tried to be strong, to not look back, but it was too much. He did look back. The last thing he saw of Amity Park was Sam, crying on Tucker's shoulder.

---------ONE MONTH LATER----------

Danny walked quickly through the deserted streets of Jump City. He ran his fingers through his jet black hair. It had been a long day. He shifted his bags in a tired way and sighed heavily. He noticed the complete silence, and couldn't keep his adrenaline from racing. He liked it better in the daytime, when the city dwellers bustled around, and you couldn't be alone if you tried. It was night, when he was the only one there; that was when Danny's heart raced. That was when the silence was too loud.

Danny gasped, his breath coming out in an even blue streak. Danny stared at it, wide eyed. A ghost? Here in Jump City? Maybe he was just seeing his breath the way normal people did on cold nights. Danny inhaled sharply and another wisp of blue left his mouth. Nope. It was definitely his Ghost Sense.

Danny stood there a moment. Did he run toward the trouble or away? He hadn't encountered a ghost since he'd left his home town. Since that day… Danny shivered. He turned to look down the street, trying to decide. It only took him a few more seconds to make his decision.

The Teen Titans walked slowly through the warehouse doorway, every muscle tense. Beastboy whistled "I think we found our thief's hideout. Dude! Just look at all this stuff." The Titans look around at the cardboard boxes.

"Clothing, cooking utensils, electronics… Paper clips? This thief isn't stealing for profit." Robin mused.

"Your right." Said Cyborg. The half robot teen walked over to inspect a large box full of earmuffs.

The teens were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.

Above them a man (or not) scowled. He was trying to draw the Ghost Child, not a herd of teenagers; although these were very interesting specimens. A pair of binoculars popped out of his arm, and he found each of the kids in the lens. He looked at the first boy, a teen in a yellow and black cape with pitch black hair styled to look like it would if he had struck his head out of a car window, and a mask. NORMAL HUMAN flashed across the screen. The metal villain turned to the next, a large half-robot, African American teen. The viewfinder quickly scanned the robotics in the teenager. "Interesting…" the vigilante said under his breath. The boys parts seemed even more advanced than the villains own high tech exoskeleton.

The lenses moved to a tall red headed girl. TARMARANIAN flashed across the screen. Very, very interesting. The binoculars moved to the green kid near the back. The screen went crazy. HUMAN, BIRD, REPTILE, HUMAN, FISH. The man reached up and adjusted the intensity of the lens. The words stopped their hurried blinking, and a new one appeared. SHAPESHIFTER.

The man couldn't believe his luck. These youths were perfect prey for any esteamed hunter, and he, Skulker, was such a hunter. He WAS the greatest hunter in the ghost zone, or he had been before that whelp, Danny Phantom had tarnished his reputation.

But Skulker couldn't waste time. He had to catch the Ghost Child, the ultimate prize, now more than ever. Skulker quickly drew up and analyzed the message that had been spread through out the Ghost Zone:

DANIEL FENTON

WANTED BY PLASMIUS

MUST BE CAPTURED ALIVE

REWARD

He, Skulker would be the first to catch the whelp, but he had to do it slowly. This night was just about targeting the boy, learning his location, and giving Phantom a reason for his usual paranoia. Skulker put the poster away. He looked at the last teen, but before he was done scanning the hooded girl his trackers picked up on an unknown ghost entering the premises. Finally.

Skulker looked back at the teens walking slowly through the ware house, their eyes and ears alert. He better keep them busy. The button on his arm beeped as he pressed it.


	2. Fight Night

Strong Enough (a Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter Two: Fight Night

The Titans looked around warily. It was way to quiet. Even all normal city sounds, of buses, taxis, and pedestrians had ceased. Beastboy looked up from the box of frozen deserts, his sensitive ears perked. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what Beastboy?" asked Starfire.

"Something that went, beep."

"I think I found something." Cyborg called from further within the warehouse.

The Titans walked up to were Cyborg was standing, and turned to face the object he had called them for.

"Um Cy," Beastboy said, studying it intently. "You do realize this is just a wall, right?"

Cyborg shook his head. "Look closer." He said.

"It seems to be… glowing!" Starfire said, touching the wall lightly. It was true. A soft green glow came from the wall, illuminating the Titans quizzical faces.

The Titans fell back as the wall moved to the side, revealing a metal door. The door glowed a stronger green.

"Titans, be ready." Robin called.

The door lifted slowly. When it had disappeared from view it revealed a small room beyond, glowing even stronger. Floating in the middle of the room was a man in overalls and a beanie hat. He looked like a regular construction worker, except for the fact that his skin was light blue, and he was, well, floating. He turned to the bare doorway, his red eyes widening.

"I am free!" he yelled. "Finally free!!" he spotted the Titans, standing a few yards away.

"BEWARE!" he yelled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Skulker knew Danny Phantom was near, very near, but he needed something to draw him out into the open. He had planned on using the Box Ghost, but the lesser villain was much more useful keeping the Titans out of the equation. Skulker scanned the street. The only human out this late was a woman and a blonde boy, about six years old. Skulker smiled evilly. They would be the perfect bait. He launched a small rocket at the women and child.

Danny had been looking for the ghost, and knew he was close, but had stopped, invisible, to look at a woman and her child. "Mom, are we there yet?" the boy wined.

"Look Jeremy, we will get home as soon as we can."

Danny's heart stung at the sight of this mom and her son; of all he had lost. He turned and began to fly away when out of the corner of his eye he saw something coming towards the two. He turned visible as he threw a blast of green energy, a ghost ray, deflecting it. The woman turned at the sound, her eyes widening when she spotted the white haired boy, hand still giving off green smoke.

"Mom, watch out!" the boy yelled. A blast from one of Skulkers guns caught her on the side of the head, knocking her out.

"Leave them alone!" Danny yelled. His cupped his hands and let a ball of ghost energy develop, throwing it at Skulker. The Ghost Hunter dodged easily, rolling into the light of a street lamp.

"So you still protect the humans, whelp?" Skulker sneered. He looked at the little boy, and pointed his arm at him, a gun popping out of the top. The child cried out and threw his hands over his head, closing his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Jeremy opened his eyes and saw a translucent green shield protecting him from the metal villain. The shield was being held by the white haired teen, who dropped it and threw a jet of green energy at the man.

"You leave the people in this city alone." Danny said through clinched teeth.

"I did not come for them Ghost Child." A larger gun emerged from Skulker's arm. He leveled it at Danny. "I came for you."

Skulker fired at Danny, who flipped out of the way in time. With a war cry Danny threw a large blast at Skulker, sending him back into a nearby building with a thud. Danny landed by Jeremy.

"He called you ghost child! You're a… a…a ghost?" the boy squeaked.

"Sorta. Phantom. My name is Danny Phantom." He reached down but the boy shrank back. "I wont hurt you." Danny said gently. "And I'm going to get you and your mother out of here. I promise." Jeremy nodded, trusting him immediately. He let the ghost pick him up. Danny reached down to lift the lady, but before he reached her Skulker hit him with one of his guns, sending him careening into a nearby wall. Danny spun holding the boy against his chest to protect him and slammed into a wall. He hit hard. Danny groaned and shook his head to clear it.

"Skulker, this is between you and me. Now I've said this once and I'll say it again. Leave these people alone."

Skulker laughed as he walked towards the Ghost Kid. "That is the thing I hate about half ghosts like you whelp. You have hearts." He mocked, firing a rocket at the two, but Danny turned intangible and phased the boy and himself through the wall. He stood the boy up in front of him. "Listen kid, you gotta run. I'll get your mom."

For one moment they stood like that, Jeremy's frightened eyes locked with the glowing green ones.

The wall exploded and you could hear the sound of Skulker's mechanized armor as he walked through.

"GO!!" Danny yelled.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Who dares to intrude upon the lair of the _Box Ghost_!"

"We do." Beastboy said.

"Are you the one whose been making the invisible truck robberies?" Robin demanded.

"_Never_!!!!!!!! I simply freed the wondrous square containers from their useless articles, for I _am_ the _Box Ghost_!!"

"So you just want the boxes?" Cyborg asked, puzzled.

"Yes Metal Man, for as I said… I am the box ghost! _Beware_!!"

"This is getting redundant." Raven muttered.

"Redundant? How dare you call the Box Ghost redundant! _You will pay_!" the ghost said, his eyes glowing dangerously.

The boxes around the Titans began to lift, held in a thick green aura. A large box hit Starfire, sending her against the wall.

"Titans go!" Robin yelled.

Raven and Cyborg ran at the Box Ghost from the left, and Robin and Beastboy from the right. Starfire recovered and came down the middle, firing heatedly. Cyborg's arm changed into his sonic canon, and he began to shoot at the Box Ghost, but the strange enemy lifted box after box managing to block him. Raven tried to pull the multiple boxes from his grasp, but with a cry of victory he sent one at her from behind, scooping her up, and slamming her against the wall.

"_Haha_!" He yelled.

Beastboy changed into a cheetah. He ran, closing in on the box ghost, maneuvering between the variously sized boxes he was pelted with. When he came closer to the box powered villain he jumped and morphed into a pterodactyl. With a cry he flew at the ghost, talents out. The villain didn't move; he just smiled. Beastboy's sharp claws went right through the floating man. Surprised, he tried to stop himself from slamming into the wall, but failed. The impact caused Beastboy to morph back to his human self, falling into a pile of, you guessed it, boxes.

"Owwww." He whimpered.

---------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy felt like he had been running for hours. His heart hurt from the effort and he was sweating all over. He could no longer hear the battle behind him. He turned down an alley and found himself at a dead end. He looked around and ended up hiding behind a trash can. He sat still, the stillest he had in his entire life, listening to his own breathing. There was no light. Jeremy stared hard into the darkness, trying to see into the heavy black that surrounded him. Jeremy looked up. The building next to him didn't look like a house, but he thought he could hear voices inside. Maybe it was just his ears, but he thought he heard banging, and someone shouting something about bears. He strained his eyes to see the rough sign attached to the door. He sounded it out.

"Sm… smill, Smilly's, Smiley's. smiley's werrrr…war... ware ha…hose… how…sss." The boy smiled. Smiley's Warehouse.

--------------------------------------------------------

Robin wasn't smiling. No matter what he threw at this creepy blue guy, it fazed right through him. The self proclaimed Box Ghost had manipulated the boxes around the Titans, and although they were holding their own, it was difficult to fight something you can't touch. Then, with a final beware, the ghost disappeared. No warning. No way to track him.

"Where did he go?" Beastboy asked his eyes wide. Raven blasted apart the pile of boxes stacked on top of her, and Starfire helped Cyborg off the ground.

"I don't know. We have no clue what other powers he has." Robin said looking around uneasily. The boxes suddenly began to fly up, phasing thru the roof. The Titans could do nothing but watch, and wonder at the stacks of merchandise left on the ground.

"He took the boxes, but not the stuff in the boxes." Raven said quizzically.

"Weird…" said Beastboy, looking around at the piles of merchandise. "Does this mean there are, well, you know, such things as ghosts?" Beastboy asked, his face somewhat paler.

Robin frowned. "I'd like to know a lot more about this. If that… thing was in our city, there might be more like him around."

Starfire's green eyes widened. "Does this mean no day of play at the park?"

"Robin you promised! It's our day off!" Beastboy moaned.

"This is more important. Maybe it won't take long, but we need to find out as much as we can. Maybe we can go to the park later. Raven, would you look through your books, and see if there's anything about ghosts in them?" Raven nodded.

**Twenty minutes later**

Danny flew slowly through the crisp cold air. He was looking for the boy, Jeremy was his name. Danny was confused. Something told him that Skulker wasn't working alone. Skulker always fought hard, and him just leaving like that? This wasn't like him. Skulker wouldn't stop, especially when he was ahead.

Danny's ghost sense went off, the second time this night. Danny felt like groaning. Looking down he couldn't see anything unusual. There was no street lights, so Danny concentrated enough ghost energy in one hand to make a steady light. He could barely make out the dead end alley below, but he caught sight of a blur of blonde hair. As he wandered closer he recognized Jeremy, sleeping soundly against a trash can. The ghost smiled. He turned light blue as he became intangible and phased through the ground, coming up slightly behind the boy. He put his arms under the child and lifted, turning tangible again. The kid moved slightly, but did not wake. Danny had forgotten about the ghost he had sensed, and flew silently away with the child.

With sheer luck Danny found the boy's street. He was glad he remembered the address. He stood in front of the house. The door was open. He didn't want to scare the lady anymore than he had already; should he revert back to Danny Fenton and say he found the kid? No, he couldn't explain how he knew were they lived. Just walk up? Danny played it in his mind. "Mam, yes there are such things as ghosts. I was just trying to help, and I don't want to haunt you or anything. Oh, and here's your son who's cold and not moving."

Danny groaned inwardly. Today was not his day.

He turned the boy and himself invisible and drifted into the house. He could hear the woman talking on her phone.

"I am serious officer; I was attacked by a _ghost_! He was trying to steal my purse but I chased him away."

Danny couldn't help smirking. Right, and he was a pink bunny with nose hair.

"I looked all over the place but I couldn't find my son Jeremy. Don't you dare transfer me! _I know what I saw_!"

Danny found the boys bedroom and laid him down gently. He pulled the blue covers up over the thin frame.

Jeremy's brown eyes fluttered open. "Danny Phantom?"

"Just go back to sleep. Everything will be okay tomorrow."

The boy sat up. "Will you stay?"

"No. I better go before your mom adds talking to minors to my rep sheet." Danny walked slowly to the window.

Jeremy's eyes grew wide. "Mom! Were is she? Is she okay?"

Danny opened his mouth, ready to say something about always keeping his promises, when it hit him in the gut. He hadn't kept all of his promises. He had promised himself he would never let someone he loved get hurt, and he had.

"She's fine." He managed. "You probably shouldn't tell your Mom about me. We… didn't get along to well."

The boys tense face relaxed. "Thank you." The boy breathed, in childlike trust. "For saving her."

Danny looked at him. He didn't get thanked every time he tried to help. Not once since he'd left Amity Park. "No problem. Now go back to sleep. You've had a rough day."

Danny waited until Jeremy's eyes closed before he phased through the wall, leaving the house behind. Danny floated around until he found a suitable alley. The familiar white ring formed and passed over him, leaving a tired, normal human boy with two bags weighing at his arms. Danny walked aimlessly for a while, and found a bench to sleep on. He lifted his bags from his shoulder and lay the one with clothes, not ghost weapons, down for a pillow. Danny lay down, and looked up, staring at the stars through the city smog. After a while he no longer felt cold, or thought about how hard the bench was, or what Sam and Tucker were doing, or missed Amity Park, or felt the weight of guilt burying him in grief. He just slept.


	3. Meeting Danny

**First off, thanks to everyone who contacted me. This is my first Fan Fiction so it means ****alot****. Yes, this is the chapter where Danny and the Titans finally meet(Cheers in background). I hope you like it! oh, and I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. I know, big suprise huh?**

**-Pat**

STRONG ENOUGH (A Danny Phantom, Teen Titan Crossover)

Chapter Three: Meeting Danny

*THUMP*

Danny yelped and sat up on the bench. He rubbed his head and looked around for what had hit him. It was a Frisbee. Danny bent down and picked it up. That's what he got for sleeping in a park, he thought crankily. He looked around, squinting at the late-morning sun. he fingered the Frisbee and swung his legs over the side of the bench, ruffling his sleep mussed hair.

A vigorous barking caught Danny's attention. He looked around and spotted a dog rushing towards him. The dog was… Green?

Danny stiffened. _Ghost_ screamed his instincts. Run! Hide! FIGHT!

"_C__ool__ it __Fenton__"_ he thought. _"If it were a ghost your ghost sense would ha__ve__ gone off. You're just jumpy from last night." _

Then why was it green?

The dog spotted Danny and trotted over. To Danny's amazement the animal changed from a green dog to a green boy as it approached. Danny's ghost sense was still dormant.

"Hi!" said the dog-boy. "Have you seen a Frisbee around here? It's blue, and about this big…"

Danny studied the boy as he rambled on about the dimensions of the Frisbee. He wasn't a ghost; he was a different, earthier green. He didn't have the tell tale glow about him either. His ears were pointed at the end, like an elf's, and fang-like teeth were visible when he talked. If he wasn't a ghost, what was he? A boy who could shift into a dog?

Mentally Danny slapped himself. _"Sam's right, I am clueless."_ he thought. _"If there are crazy things like ghosts and __halfas__, then why wouldn't there be __shape-shifters__?"_

"And I think theirs a logo on it, but I'm not sure. Oh, and it's got…"

Danny held the Frisbee up. "Is this it?"

"Dude! You found it!"

"Actually it found me. In the head."

The boy blushed. "Sorry, uh…"

"Danny." He held out the Frisbee.

"Beastboy." The kid said taking it. The boy turned and threw the Frisbee into the air. Danny was surprised when a tall girl flew up into the air and caught it, giggling.

"Here Beastboy!" She yelled. She through the Frisbee back. Hard. Danny watched it whiz through the air, and placed his hands on the back of the bench, palms down. Beastboy morphed back into a dog to grab it, but at the last minute, he jumped out of the way, the Frisbee flying past with incredible speed. When the speeding disk reached Danny he was ready. At the last moment he pushed his feet against the ground and half rolled, half flipped over the bench, landing crouched behind it. Getting hit by a Frisbee once was enough. Danny heard a crash. He peaked over the bench to see that the Frisbee had hit one of his bags, sending his stuff all over the place.

"Ah poop." he said. At least it was his clothes bag, not the ghost bag.

Beastboy, the flying girl and three other kids Danny hadn't noticed before rushed over to help him reclaim his things as he knelt, stuffing his clothes miscellaneously into his once green bag.

"Perhaps I preformed the 'chucking it' a little too hard." The girl who had thrown the Frisbee said, her green eyes big as saucers.

"Ya think?" said a hooded girl sarcastically. She knelt and picked up a worn book.

"Is this yours?" she asked in a dull monotone.

Danny looked at her. The midnight blue hood kept her face in shadow.

"It was my moms."

The girl read the title silently. GHOSTS: THEORY OF THE ALTERNATE DIMENSION AND ITS INHABITANTS it stated. She noticed that the book cover was singed.

Danny looked around, his heart quickening. Were was the note? It had to be here. What if some one found it? Danny tried to keep from panicking. He noticed that the hooded girl was watching him. Danny bit his lip. He should have destroyed that note when he had the chance.

A green gloved hand held out the familiar white envelope out to him. DANIEL FENTON was scrawled across the top in red marker. Danny sighed in relief. He looked up. The hand belonged to a thin teen with spiky black hair. A mask covered his eyes. Despite his vibrant yellow, red, and green costume his face was serious. Danny couldn't see the boys eyes, but he could feel them boring into him.

Robin took in the stranger in one quick glance. The boy's black hair fell crazily to one side, and he had startling blue eyes. His clothes were mused, and his bag was stained. Robin noticed he was young and very thin, but if this was natural or because of lack of food, he couldn't tell.

"Thanks." The stranger said.

"No problem. My name is Robin. That's Raven," the boy motioned to the hooded girl, still holding Danny's book.

"That's Starfire," the Frisbee girl waved gleefully.

"The half robot dude's Cyborg," the large robo-teen raised a metal arm in greeting.

"And I think you already met Beastboy."

Danny nodded. He stood up, took the letter, and clasped Robin's still outstretched hand in his own.

"Danny."

Starfire, a tall, beautiful red head placed her load of clothes and whatnot in Danny's bag and turned to him, beaming.

"It is Glorious to meet you Danny." Starfire said. "Tell me… were-did-you-come-from-how-did-you-get-here-were-do-you-live-whats-your-favorite-color-and-do-you-wish-to-be-my-friend?"

She looked expectantly at Danny.

"I come from far away. I got here lots of ways. Right now I'm staying here in the park, and yah I'll be your friend I guess. Ah crud, I think I missed one." he muttered.

Danny yelped as Starfire pulled him into a hug comparable to one of his dads.

"I am so glad new friend Danny!"

"Man, if this is your *GASP* good side I never want to see your *GASP* bad side." Danny wheezed. The girl let Danny go and Beastboy began laughing hysterically.

"I am sorry. Sometimes I squeeze the bones to hard."

"You live in the park?" Robin interrupted.

Danny shrugged. "Just for a while, until I find a better place."

"Like what?" asked Robin, concern in his voice.

Danny scowled slightly. He didn't want sympathy. "Like there." Danny said pointing to a nearby tree. The teens turned. A weathered poster was tacked to the trunk. Cyborg read it out loud.

"Keep the homeless off our streets. Jump City Shelter. Then it has the date it opens. That's a couple days from now."

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed, "It is unacceptable for my new friend to sleep in the park of fun and games! We must have him stay at Titan Tower until the Jump City Shelter keeps the less of homes off our streets. May we Robin?"

Danny looked at the masked boy. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Really." He said.

"Come on dude, you got to come." Beastboy whined. "It's the least we can do after almost killing you with a Frisbee. Twice."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Twice!?"

Beastboy gave him a cheesy grin. "Please Robin?" he changed into a kitten and began meowing pitifully.

The hooded girl looked at the masked boy. "That might not be a bad idea." She said in a grave monotone. She stood and held the book out to Robin, who took it, his masked eyes widening. Danny shifted uneasily. Why would they be interested in a book about ghosts?

Robin looked at Danny. "You believe in ghosts?" he asked.

Danny looked at him, his eyes getting big. Could these kids be from Guys In White? Or Plasmius? A trap?

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why do you want to know?" he countered, his voice suspicious.

Robin frowned. "Have you been around here long?" Danny hesitated, then shook his head.

"We," Robin said motioning to the group standing around Danny, "Are the Teen Titans. We protect Jump City. Last night we found a warehouse filled with stolen items, all in cardboard boxes."

Danny's eyes lit up in recognition. "The Box Ghost." He said.

"You know him?" Robin asked in surprise.

"Hard not to."

"We've dealt with ghosts before, but somehow this is different. This box ghost seemed to have a mind of his own, more like a person then the ghosts we've faced in the past. Are there more like him around?"

"Worse." Danny said frowning. "Much worse. How much do you know about specters?"

"Not much." Robin admitted. "And we can't afford to be unprepared."

"So you want to know more about ghosts so you'll be ready next time. Right?"

Robin nodded, his jaw set in determination. "You seem to be pretty familiar though."

Beastboy returned to normal (If you can call it that) grinning. "Then its settled! You can come to the tower and teach us about ghosts, and have a place to stay other than the park."

"Glorious!" Starfire squealed. Beastboy and Starfire grabbed Danny's arms and began dragging him along, talking a mile a minute the entire time. Danny had to fight the urge to turn intangible and faze out of the unexpected contact.

"Aren't you glad you let us come to the park Robin?" Beastboy gloated. "Now we have a REAL LIVE information manual on ghosts."

"Wait a second guys." Danny interrupted. "I didn't say I'd come with you."

The teens stopped and looked at him.

"Why not?" asked Beastboy, bewildered.

"Because he doesn't trust us." Raven said from behind her hood.

The two released Danny. He looked at the faces around him. Could they actually be sad? These people didn't even know him. Could they actually care?

Robin walked up to Danny. "It's your decision." he held the book out to Danny.

Danny took the book, struggling within himself. Part of him wanted to tell these kids he would come, that he was just like them.

Part of him wanted to run.

What if he just kept his ghost half a secret? He could stay with them a couple days, belong somewhere for just a little while, and then be gone. Something ugly welled up in Danny. He didn't deserve to belong some where it snickered, draining his resolve. A new thought came to Danny. If these teens knew nothing of the lame Box Ghost, they could be seriously hurt if they tried to face a villain like Skulker or another ghostly threat Danny was all to familiar with. He could help them. He hadn't been strong enough last time but maybe now… unless, of course, this was some kind of trap.

"Okay first off, how do I know your who you say you are?" he said to the teens around him.

Robin looked Danny up and down. He noticed that the blue eyed boy had slipped into a fighting stance. "Ask anyone in the Jump City who the Teen Titans are. Or ask the Chief of Police. He's pretty familiar with us." Robin answered.

Something stung Danny deep inside. It was the promise he'd made Sam; that he would trust again. He hadn't really meant it- but he had felt guilty lying to her. Maybe staying with these Titan people would fix it. He couldn't trust them, trust was not an option for someone like him, but he could help them.

"And I'm free to leave whenever I choose."

"Of course." Robin said, surprised by the direction the questions were going.

Danny looked back at Robin and made the best decision of his life. And the worst.

"Alright. I'll come."

And that quickly, all because of a chance meeting, Danny Fenton's life changed forever.


	4. Titan Tower

**Here it is! To all the people reading this, thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know you weren't expecting this but… DISCLAIMER! I don't own Teen Titans or Danny Phantom.**

**Now, on with the story!**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter Four: Titan Tower

"Alright. I'll come."

Danny looked at Beastboy. The kid had a huge smile on his face. "Oh yah!" He cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

Danny walked back to the bench and grabbed his other bag.

"Come on!" Beastboy said excitedly, tugging at Danny's arm. "Let's go to the T car." The teen let go and took off across the park.

Danny guessed T stood for either 'Titan' Or 'Teen'.

"I am so happy you have decided to come with us friend Danny." Starfire sang out, eyes sparkling. Danny watched her float a few feet off the ground, and checked for his ghost sense, but there was no reaction.

Either she was a ghost had found a way to get passed his ghost sense (which had been done before) or she wasn't a ghost; and Danny was leaning toward the latter. If she was a ghost who had gone through the trouble of trying to hide her abilities from him she wouldn't be giving herself away by floating. Who knew? If a halfa was possible, anything could be he reasoned, even un-ghost-based powers. Danny turned to follow Beastboy but was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the teen- although he seemed to be closer to manhood than childhood- that the others had addressed as Cyborg.

"Wait." The half robot said simply.

Before Danny could question this he caught sight of Beastboy returning to the group. "Um, Cy?" The changeling asked meekly, "Where _is_ the T car?"

The older teen smirked good naturedly and turned around, heading in the opposite direction.

"I knew that." Beastboy said sheepishly.

When they came to the vehicle Danny stopped and stared.

Cyborg noticed the stranger's awed look, and smiled smugly. "I built her myself. From scratch. Twice." He bragged.

Robin walked over to the R Cycle, straddled the red-and-black motorbike, and looked over his shoulder. "See you at the Tower." He said, clapping a helmet on his head before riding away from the curb, his mind still on Titan Tower's newest occupant. There was something strange about the boy. Judging from the flip-thing over the bench Robin wouldn't be surprised if the kid knew how to fight, but the strangest thing about Danny wasn't his moves, but his attitude; his obvious, unmasked, distrust. Robin's brow wrinkled in thought. He had a lot of questions, and the only one who could answer them was Danny.

During the ride Danny rode in the back seat, between Beastboy and Starfire. Raven and Cyborg sat up front.

"So…" Beastboy started, uneasy with the silence. "You're gonna teach us about ghosts?"

"I guess so."

"Well, have you ever seen a ghost?"

Danny looked at Beastboy, wondering how to answer. "I know people who've seen ghosts." That was true enough.

"Were they friends of yours?"

"Who? The ghosts?"

"No, the people who saw the ghosts."

"Oh." Danny said, quickly loosing patience. "Yah, some of them."

"Did the ghosts ever try to attack them or something?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Danny snapped at the boy. He didn't want to be reminded of the people ghosts had attached, the times his mere existence had put those he loved in danger.

Beastboy's face fell. "Oh, okay. Sorry." He apologized.

Danny watched as the changeling seemed to shrink about six inches. Danny looked up to the front and caught a hard glare from Cyborg in the rear view mirror. He pushed down his feelings of annoyance and sighed. Darn his conscience. "Look. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Beastboy mumbled.

"You mind telling me something?"

Beastboy rose a few inches.

Good, Danny was on the right track. "How did you guys get caught up with the Box Ghost?"

Beastboy reached his original height, maybe a little higher.

Danny glanced at the mirror again and got a 'that's better' look from Cyborg. For one second of immaturity Danny considered sticking his tongue out the older boy.

"Well, there were a bunch of semi trucks that would drive through Jump City that were full of store goods, and when they got wherever they were going, the trucks would be empty and the driver wouldn't know what had happened." Beastboy began. "So at first Robin thought it was just an inside job were the drivers were selling the stuff somewhere else, but there were too many robberies from too many companies for that to be right, and so we checked around and found out that the only trucks getting robbed were the ones that passed through the warehouse district of the city, and so we set up surveillance there and the streets around there and sent a truck though to find out what was happening, and the tape showed nothing, but the truck was still empty. So we searched all the warehouses around there and we found one that had all of the boxes in it, and then this wall thing lifts, and we saw this blue guy who was floating and then he shouted-"

"BEWARE!!!!!" Starfire chimed loudly.

"Right, and then he knocked Starfire down, and started moving stuff…"

"Hey ya'll, we're here!" Cyborg interrupted.

Danny sat up and looked out the window at the giant T, grey against the blue sky, his mouth open in awe.

"You live there?" Danny asked in disbelief.

The teens nodded proudly.

After Cyborg parked the T-car, he, Starfire, and Beastboy preceded to drag Danny all over the tower. Raven left the group soon after the car was parked, after graciously explaining that if Danny stepped one foot into her room, he was endangering his health.

The tower really was amazing. Training rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, it seemed to extend forever. Soon they found themselves back in the main room. Cyborg wasted no time in asking Danny if he wanted to play him on the X-box.

"Wait a minute!" said Beastboy. "Why do you get to play him?"

"Because I asked him first." Cyborg answered matter-of-factly.

"OH YEAH? Well I'm the one who FOUND him."

"Found him?" Cyborg scoffed. "You hit him in the head with a Frisbee!"

"That was an accident!"

When Robin walked in Cyborg and Beastboy were fighting heatedly, Starfire was trying to get them to stop and Danny was just watching, obviously amused. He should have found it infuriating. These Titans were deciding his next move, without his compliance, for the second time that day. But instead he just watched. It felt normal to sit in the middle of a heated discussion. He'd done it almost every lunch hour since he'd met Sam and Tucker. Actually the two Titans reminded him allot of his old friends. Danny shook his head and spoke up to distract himself from thoughts of the past.

"Why don't you just flip a coin?" he suggested. The four Titans looked at Danny.

"Or… not." He faltered uncomfortably.

"No, that's a good idea!" Cyborg said.

"I'll get a quarter!" Beastboy volunteered, racing from the room. "Don't start without me!"

"Maybe you should help him." Robin said to Cyborg.

Why?" Cyborg asked. "He can do it-" Cyborg stopped, recognizing the look on his leaders face. Without another word he turned and followed his younger friend.

Robin turned his attention to Danny, who was eyeing him warily. The best way to get him to talk was probably to get him comfortable…

Five minutes later Danny and Robin were racing each other across the screen while Beastboy stood behind the couch with Cyborg, watching. Starfire had left, saying something about Silkie.

"I can't believe they started playing while we were trying to find money." Beastboy said, crest fallen.

Robin looked at Danny out of the corner of his eye. The stranger's car passed his.

Robin's car looked for an opening, but Danny blocked him.

Curiosity was eating at Robin. He cleared his throat. "So Danny, how old are you?"

"_So that's it." _Danny thought. The reason the masked boy was playing nice was because he wanted answers; and surprisingly, Danny didn't blame him a bit. "Fourteen." He answered.

"How long have you been in Jump City?"

"Four days."

Robin's car snaked past Danny's. Robin smiled confidently.

Danny leaned back on the couch. He realized he was having fun, even if it was some sort of weird sort of interrogation session, and he felt guilty for it.

"Are you alone?"

"I probably wouldn't be sleeping on benches if I was with someone."

Danny glanced at Robin; the teenager's expression came across extremely stubborn. Danny realized he wouldn't get away with brushing off to many questions with this guy.

"So what? Did you run away or something?" Beastboy asked form behind the sofa, ears perked.

Danny's face darkened. "I… they… its… complicated." He said quietly.

Robin forgot about the game for a moment and studied Danny. The stranger seemed to get more aggressive on the game; he made Robin think he wasn't trying to beat the game at all, that he was trying to beat down something else, something buried deep inside him. Beastboy and Cyborg looked at each other then at the boy frowning at the TV screen.

Danny glanced at Robin. "Your letting me win." He said.

Robin snapped back to the screen. Danny had passed him again.

"How long have you been on your own?"

"About a month. Maybe more."

Danny's car sped over the finish-line seconds before Robin's.

"DUDE!" yelled Beastboy. "Play me now."

"Yo BB, I don't think he wants to play an amateur. He wants some competition." Said Cyborg.

"I'm not an amateur!" Beastboy protested.

Danny turned to Robin. "I need a shower. Badly. Do you mind...."

"Go ahead."

"Yah, but I'm playing you when you get out." Beastboy said.

Danny grabbed his clothes bag, and as an afterthought took the ghost bag two. He didn't want anyone picking through it while he was gone.

Danny got out of the shower feeling refreshed and clean. He ruffled his wet hair with his hands and after a moment of hesitation and a quick scan for surveillance turned intangible, letting the water fall through him onto the floor. Danny dressed quickly. As he slipped his shirt over his head he happened to look into the mirror. It was startling. He hadn't had a mirror with him when he left Amity, and it was amazing how much he had changed in the short month he'd been on his own. His skin had tanned from days walking in the sun, and his muscles had hardened from the sometimes strenuous odd jobs he did for cash. He was thinner, and his face seemed somewhat hollow. But that wasn't what caused Danny to freeze, or all the hidden grief to come rushing back. It was the three jagged white scars, running from just below his ribs to the small of his back that caused him to pale. These were old wounds, healed completely, and quickly thanks to his powers, but the scars would never go away.

Neither would the memories.

Jazz, Plasmius, screaming, the explosion…

Danny threw his shirt down, covering up the scars. He closed his eyes, trying to close out the horrible pictures, but it only made them clearer. Danny forced himself to calm down, forced the memories back. He couldn't deal with it here, he had to be strong. Danny opened his eyes, staring at his reflection. He was shaking. _"__Whoa__ there __Fenton__. Breath. Just breath." _He fought to think of something else, anything else. He suddenly felt dizzy, but he shook it off, grabbed his things and exited the bathroom.

Danny found the Titans in the kitchen, getting ready for lunch.

"Your back friend!" Said Starfire. "Please! Come and partake of the dogs of hotness."

"She means hot dogs." Robin translated.

Danny almost smiled at Starfire's oblivious ways. Key word? Almost.

Lunch was great. After Danny decided the chance to eat was worth possibly getting poisoned, he dug in. He hadn't had a meal like that for a long time. He sat eating silently, busy listening to the Titans, learning what he could about them, and keeping himself from devouring everything on the table. He didn't want the Titans to know how hungry he was. It seemed… degrading. Danny didn't want them to think he couldn't take care of himself. He carefully memorized curtain facts about the Titans, looking for anything that might help him in the long run.

Facts like Robin being the leader, and relying on skill, not powers. Or that Starfire was an alien; Danny should have figured that out. No human being could possibly consume that much mustard at one time. Raven was mostly silent, but Danny guessed that was normal because her team mates didn't seem to notice. Danny couldn't help but wonder how she would react to meeting Danny Phantom.

Until now Danny had only seen Beastboy in the shape of a dog or cat, but he soon realized that the shape-shifter was capable of much more than that. Cyborg had cooked the hotdogs, wearing a chef's hat and an apron that read 'kiss the cook'.

Soon the conversation turned to the Titans resent spectral encounter.

"We didn't know what the Box Ghost could do, so it was, well, hard to fight him." Cyborg explained.

Danny looked down at his empty plate. He might as well start with the Box Ghost and work his way up to the bigger threats. "The Box Ghost controls boxes as you probably have figured out by now. He can turn intangible or invisible at will, and takes himself too seriously." Danny frowned. He felt like he was missing a piece of the puzzle.

"You think something else is going on. More than just that ghost." Raven said.

Danny hesitated than nodded slowly, wondering how she knew that. "He can be a pain, but the Box Ghost usually doesn't stray this far from his normal haunts without something else connected."

Robin looked at Danny, interested. "What makes you think that?"

Danny twiddled with his fork. "Beastboy was telling me what happened on the way here. He said that there were surveillance cameras around, and when the Box Ghost stole the boxes out of the back of the truck no one saw anything."

"Right, but he's a ghost. That doesn't necessarily seem too hard." Raven reasoned.

"It's possible," Danny explained. "But it's not characteristic of him. The Box Ghost's main agenda is to cause fear, and he wouldn't use his powers without scaring the daylights out of the driver unless someone or something was keeping him from showing himself."

"That makes sense." Robin admitted. "Do you know why he might be in Jump?"

Danny shrugged. "There are lots of possibilities. He could have stumbled through a portal, which wouldn't be to harmful, except that if the Box Ghost got into the human world a worse ghost could too. Or he could have been used by someone as bait. Or a front. Or a distraction." Danny looked up, then back at his plate. "If you guys are the city's protectors that could be the most logical. Someone releasing the Box Ghost to keep you out of one part of the city. Skulker's done that before, and he would come this far if he's after something. And if that's right who sent him? Unless…"

Unless Plasmius had sent him. Danny didn't want to tell the Titans everything, but they would have to know eventually. Danny sighed. This 'tell about ghosts without giving yourself away' thing could be harder than he had thought. Danny looked up. The Teen Titans were staring at him, their jaws almost hitting the floor.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Dude, we thought you'd know about what ghosts were like," said Beastboy, "Not know the ghosts personally."

"Is that bad?"

Robin's face was serious. "No." he said. "It saves allot of time. But I would like to know how you know so much about this. You don't sound like you read this from a book, you sound like you have experience."

"_Oh shoot." _Danny thought.

"I'm just some homeless kid with a spooky hobby." He countered hastily. "How could I possibly have experience with ghosts?" Danny picked up his plate and walked to the sink, placing it on a mountainous stack of dishes.

"That's what I'd like to know." Robin muttered.


	5. Of Robins and Chickens

**Here is the next chapter. As always, THANK YOU TONS to every one who sent reviews/story alert/favorite story/author alert-ed me. It makes me feel so special!**

**So, here we go. And as always, the only time I own Danny Phantom and Teen Titans is when I'm dreaming. Also, about the title. I AM NOT CALLING ROBIN A CHICKEN! You'll see why I used this title later.**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 5: Robins and Chickens

"Do you have anything else Raven?"

The legendary Teen Titans and 14 year old Danny Fenton were lounging in the living areas in Titan Tower, were Raven and Danny were both reading and sharing spectral information as fast as possible, Raven from a thick old manuscript from her collection, and Danny from his mothers worn and singed volume.

"Here's something." Raven said. "The flowers of a certain plant, known as Blood Blossoms, are believed to hurt and eventually destroy any ethereal being they touch. People would create circles of the flowers, attempting to either trap the ghost within or keep it out of a curtain area."

"So these Blood Petals are bad news for dead people?" Beastboy questioned.

"It's Blood BLOSSOMS." Raven and Danny corrected simultaneously.

Beastboy glowered. He was still ticked at the entire assembly for insisting that Danny help gather data before playing games on the TV.

Robin turned to Danny. "Do you have anything to add to that?"

The hybrid looked down at the pages of the book in his lap. The author had never heard of Blood Blossoms. Unfortunately, Danny had. Should he stray from the book _again_? "If a spook is thrown into a circle of the stuff the effects continue even after he's- I mean its- dragged out. The only way to save the ghost is to destroy every blossom in the circle. The blooms give off a strong almost nauseous aroma, and were used by witch whackers in the 1600's. Oh, and they're edible. I assume if you eat one you cancel out a ghost's ability to overshadow."

"Cool." Cyborg grinned. "I just have one question. What's overshadowing?"

"It's the ghostly ability to walk into a human and take over their mind and body from the inside."

"That is… I believe the word is… disturbing." Starfire said.

"Very." Robin confirmed.

"This is interesting." Raven muttered, fingering the weathered yellow pages in her book. An old illustration showed a young girl, her long hair falling down her back in a thick braid. Her hands were held in front of her, and a golden chain was clasped to the girl's neck, a stone placed in the middle. A two Terrance castle stood behind her, and her clothing was obviously medieval. "Here's a section on a ghostly artifact known as the cursed Amulet of Aragon, which can morph the wearer into a powerful dragon at times of great anger or emotional stress."

"Is there a way to counteract that?" Robin asked, turning to Danny.

Raven scowled. These were HER friends. They had always come to HER with their questions about the supernatural. What did this secretive, quiet boy have that she didn't? Raven took a deep cleansing breath. She knew exactly what he had. Information. He was amazingly familiar with every subject pertaining to ghosts that the Titans had discussed so far, and very little of his knowledge actually came from the book before him. The teen didn't even pretend to look to his book this time, but quickly rattled off the desired information.

"The dragon form only lasts as long as the amulet is worn by the person in question. If you can get the amulet, the dragon will instantly be rendered powerless, and the wearer will assume his or her original form."

Raven carefully suppressed the pang of envy in her heart. So what? He knew his facts. It didn't mean he could replace her…did it?"

"Raven?" Robin's voice pulled the girl from her thoughts. "Do you know anything else that might be of interest?"

"Of course." She answered, glaring at the book so that she wouldn't have to meet Robin's gaze. "What do you need?"

"Anything you got." The determined leader said.

Danny looked around him. These people, this place, it just seemed so… right. Like this was the way things were supposed to be. Danny scolded himself for being soft. He needed to keep alert, keep focused. He would do what he'd come here to do, and then he'd disappear. But even so, maybe, just maybe, Vlad was wrong. Maybe the crazed billionaire wasn't the only person who could understand…

The Titans? Understand DANNY? That was just crazy. _"I don't need anyone to understand." _Danny thought fiercely. The only thing he needed was to keep a promise, the promise that he wouldn't become that monster. It didn't matter that he had made the promise in an alternate timeline. It didn't matter that trying to keep it had left him so lost, so alone-

"Danny? Are you alright?"

Danny hadn't heard the question Robin had asked or noticed that the room had become quiet till now. Unknowingly his face had become contorted with the effort of the battle within him, without him realizing it, and Danny immediately willed the tension to leave his face, but it was too late. The others had seen a small break in his mask, enough to let them know he was not the carefree teen he had hoped to betray.

"Yah, I'm just fine." He lied. He had meant to say the words with a strong, if fake, cheerfulness, but had failed utterly. Instead his voice was soft and shaky, far from convincing anyone that he was 'fine'. Least of all himself.

Robin's face was etched with fierce curiosity and concern. "Danny-"

Red lights flashed as a loud alarm interrupted him. Robin and the other Titans rushed to the computer screen, leaving a bewildered Danny on the couch.

"Titans, trouble." Robin barked, thoughts of the blue eyes stranger far from his mind. "Move out!"

The Titans raced from the room. "Um, just hang out and we'll be back." Cyborg yelled over his shoulder at Danny.

"Yah!" Beastboy added. "And THEN I'm going to play you on the X-box!"

Soon Danny became very aware of the silence. Very aware that he was alone. Again. "Shake it off Fenton." He muttered. "Stop thinking about it."

He looked around, and spoke. "Well, I'm in California, I'm sitting on a couch it a humongous T, and I've met superheros." It wasn't a normal situation to say the least. But then, when Danny came to think of it, it had become evident a long time ago that Danny Fenton would NEVER experience a normal situation. He had lived in a house full of ghost hunters. He'd become a Halfa. His own parents had attempted to rip him to pieces numerous times, and now he was living with a team of super powered minors. Danny shook his head. "And people wonder why I talk to myself."

---------------------------------------------------------

The Titans reached the city to find Rancid causing mayhem, laughing hysterically at the panicked citizens running through the streets. Running from…

Robin raised an eyebrow. "What the-"

"A giant chicken robot?" Beastboy questioned.

"This guy needs to get out more." Raven stated.

"Why did PoultRex cross the street?" Rancid yelled at the people scurrying past. "Because Rancid told him to!"

Robin stepped out of the shadows, his team close behind him. "Why did Rancid go back to jail?" He interrupted.

Cyborg's Sonic Cannon whined as it charged. "Because the Titans kicked his butt." The mechanized Titan finished.

"TITANS GO!"

The team sprang to life, speeding towards the villain. Their progress was cut short as the large metal bird placed itself in front of them.

"It really is bigger up close." Beastboy said, looking up.

The huge chicken's metal beak smashed into the street, causing the Titans to scatter. Cyborg took aim and fired, but the shot glanced off the robots metal side.

"Birds of a feather, isn't that right Robin?" Rancid crowed.

The chicken opened its metal mouth and dove at the Boy Wonder, who leapt into the air and came down on the birds head, hard. PoultRex lifted and shook its great cranium, unable to dislodge the human clinging to it. A flurry of green Star-bolts caught the chicken's attention, but before the bird could attack the girl buzzing around its face a green T- Rex slammed into its side, causing it to stumble. The chicken struck out with its sharp claws. Robin looked up. He was still on the birds head, far above the ground. He caught sight of Rancid on the other end of the street, yelling who knows what at the Titans. Robin took a deep breath, and leapt to his feet, running down the chicken's neck. He zigzagged agilely, his steel toed shoes echoing against the metal under him. He caught sight of a blur on his right, and turned his head slightly, in time to see the chicken twist violently, trying to snap at Raven. The blue light of a sonic blast, curtasy of Cyborg, hit the metal jaw, keeping the beak from closing around the empath. The birds back swung to the side and Robin moved to the right quickly to keep balanced on the moving metal, but not quickly enough. He pushed off before he fell, trying to maintain direction. He twisted in the air like a cat, and whipped his grapple hook out. He shot it, and felt the emediate rush of air as he changed direction. He was swinging straight towards Ransid, whose ugly smile gave way to a shocked expretion as Robin planted his feet on the villains chest with a satisfying thud. Raven apeared and wrapped the groaning villain in a black blob(for lack of better word), immobilizing him.

"Well that was quick." she said.

A yell from behind them drew the teens attention back to the chicken stumbling around in the middle of the road; it seemed that the beak was propped open with something that the PoultRex was desperately trying to swallow. At a second glance the teens reconized Cyborg holding the fowl mouth open.

"A little help up here!!" he yelled.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Danny Phantom was gliding, invisible, through Titan Tower. The curious ghost caught glimpses of some of the rooms he had already visited, and a couple he hadn't. After a while he got the urge to just fly. He turned up, speeding through ceiling after ceiling. He liked this; intangible and invisible, just like the air. Danny came to the top of the tower and landed breathlessly. He looked out, awed by the view of the city. He sat there a while, still invisible. He pealed his green eyes from the panorama and looked around. He noticed a basketball court and door in the Tower.

"_I can come up here as a human too?"_

Danny slipped into Titan Tower once again, he slipped into the bathroom, got in the shower and closed the curtain before he willed himself back into Danny Fenton. He didn't want to show his ghost half in the open, he had spotted too many cameras.

"_You are way to paranoid Fenton."_ He thought. But then, he had reason to be.

Danny made his way back to the living room. He opened his bag and took out his mother's book in one hand, and grabbed both his bags in the other, and set off in search of a way up to the top of the Tower.

-------------------------------------------------

Alternating red and blue lights cast their glow on an indignant Rancid as he was hauled into the back of the waiting police car. A hunk of metal that used to be a giant chicken lay in the middle of the battle scarred street. Several police officers scuried about.

"And as always, thanks for the help. Jump City would be much worse off if you kids weren't here." A gruff officer said, smiling at the teenagers standing victorious before him.

"Its our job." Robin said, smiling slightly. He turned to his tired but happy team. "I think we should head home now."

"Dude, THEN do I get to play Danny?" Beastboy questioned impatiently.

"Danny?" the officer questioned. "Is he a new recruit or something?"

"No." Robin explained. "He's a boy with information valuable to our team. It's a temporary fix."

"Speaking of information," The Titans turned to the speaker. He was a large man, tall and thick, with small sparkling eyes and a thin red mustache. His voice was smooth, with a hint of an irish accent. "My name is Maxwell Jarson, and I'm a private investigator. Could I speak with you kids for a moment?"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Skulker lifted the red lensed binochulars to his face, and watched the Ghost Child read on the edge of the roof of the rediculously shaped tower the hunter had tracked him to. Skulker had been carefull to keep out of range of the boy's ghost sense, and Danny was relaxed and oblivious to the danger watching from the air. The metal face bent in a crooked grin. What a hunt, to attach the boy now, unespected… but that was not why Skulker was here. He had orders straight from Plasmius, and it had been made clear that these orders would be followed carefully if the hunter valued his afterlife.

The metal villain lifted an arm, and a metal conpartment popped out of the armor. The lid slid back and Skulker lifter a small metal bug out. The unseeing red eyes zoned in on the ghost boy, and the grey wings snapped open. The servailance device left the hunters grasp, and flew towards Danny. The miniture robot locked in on Danny, searching for a sutable place to land. The bug targetted one of the bags, the white one, and dove for the spot. Danny heard a low buzzing. He looked up, but he found nothing. He went back to his book, after dismissng the noise as a fly or bee, leaving the small camera to spy in peace. Skulker deployed his jet wings, which he had fixed since his last encounter with the Ghost Chind, and left, his work done.


	6. To Trust Or Not to Trust

**As always, thank you for reading this. I'm open to any tips or ideas. I've decided to raise the rating from K+ to T, just to be safe.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Danny Phantom and Teen Titans, neither of them would have been canceled. I am writing this as a tribute to the really imaginative people who created these shows.**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter Six: To Trust or Not to Trust

The sun was low in the sky when the Titans got back to the tower. They were silent, heads buzzing with the information they had just rescieved.

"We're BAAAAACK!" Beastboy yelled as they entered.

"And we have a lead." Robin added. No answer.

"Hello, friend Danny?" Starfire called.

"His bags are gone." Raven informed Robin.

The leader's face darkened. "Cyborg, check the computer, see if anyones tried to hack in. Beastboy, Starfire, Raven, check the Tower."

Beastboy morphed into a wolf, leaping into action. Cyborg began hitting computer keys as fast as possible, and Starfire floated into the hallways, calling Danny's name loudly. Raven turned to Robin. "Do you think Danny's trouble?"

"I'm sure he's trouble." Robin said, he turned down a hall, Raven floating behind. "It was stupid to leave a complete stranger in the Tower alone. We have no idea who this kid is, or who he might be working for. He probably either drained the database, planted cameras or something else that will endanger this team." Robin turned to Raven, face hard. "I knew there was something off about him. Gut feeling. If he's not still in the tower, we'll head to the city." Robin turned, dissapearing around the corner. They would find him. Robin would not let his team be wounded by a stranger they were trying to help. Not again.

Raven floated down the hall, using her magic to open the many doors. She hadn't trusted the Danny, but she hadn't thought he was capable of this. He had seemed more lost then criminal. Maybe he was a better actor then she was empath, Raven thought darkly. She wandered from room to room. Her comunacator went off, and Raven lifted it to see Starfire's face.

"We have looked in all the places of the tower and we haven't found our friend." She said sadly.

"DUDE!" Beastboy said, his green face popping up behind Starfire's. "We looked in the training room and all of our rooms, and the evidence room, and that room that smells funny, and all the creepy hallways, and-"

Raven thought of something. "Did either of you check the roof?"

Beastboy stopped talking, looked at Star and they both shook their heads. "I'm checking there."

Raven contacted Robin.

"Raven? Did you find him?"

"No." She answered.

"I watched the footage from the sacurity camera and the last it shows Danny on his way up to the roof."

Raven nodded. "I'll meet you there."

Robin, Raven, Starfire, and Beastboy met at the stairs leading to the roof. Cyborg joined them. "No one's touched the computer." He told them.

Robin rubbed his forhead with his hand. He had been too quick to jump to conclusions. Danny hadn't done anything to break their trust so far, but that didn't mean that Robin should give his trust freely. Danny would have to prove he deserved it.

"I still don't understand why he took his stuff with him if he wasn't leaving." Cyborg muttered.

"Think about it." Raven mused. "He's used to being on the streets. Everything he owns is in those two bags, and he's not comfortable enough yet to just leave them around."

Robin nodded. "He kept them both with him when he went to take a shower too." He added.

They walked up the stairs in silence. The thought that anyone, espessialy a kid their age had so little was sobering.

----------------------------------------------------

Danny had put the book away when the light had started to die. He now stood at the edge of the roof watching the sun go down. It was amazing. He thought he understood why the Tower had a entrance to the roof now.

Danny whipped around, stiffening as the door was thrust open, revealing all five titans framed in the door way.

"Um… Hi?"

"Our new friend!" Starfire squealed. "I am so glad you are now found."

"I was lost?" Danny asked. Suddenly it dawned on him that he had taken his bags with him. Of course, they had no way of knowing were he was. "I'm sorry. I had no right to go exploring without permission." He muttered, ashamed that he'd startled the only people he'd met in over a month that accualy cared what happened to him. But why did they care? Was he being used as a pawn in another of Plasmius's games?

"Its fine," Robin said.

"Yah." Beastboy said popping up in front of him. "But never scare us like that again!" He yelled, waving his arms around crazily.

"Sorry." Danny said again.

Robin pushed Beastboy to the side impatiently. "What do you think of the view?" he asked, changing the subject.

Danny smiled. "Its amazing."

Robin looked at Danny curiously. It was the first time he'd seen the boy smile. It looked like he was out of practice. "I'm glad you like it. Feel free to come up here, anytime."

"Thanks." Danny said looking towards the resceeding sun.

"Great." Cyborg said. "Now how about we go back downstairs so I can beat your tush at video games." He presceded to drag Danny towards the door.

"Hey! I'M playing him. I've been waiting forever!" Beastboy protested.

"Wait! My bags." Danny said.

"I will get them." Starfire said, scooping up the bags joyfully.

"That's okay, I can manage." Danny said anxiously, his thoughts on the ghost weapons hidden among his few possesions.

"I can handle them, I am stronger than I look." Starfire lifted the white bag curiously. "This bag is heavier than I had expected. What item of yours is so weighted?" Starfire asked, lifting a hand to unlatch it. Danny's ghost bag.

"HEY!!" Danny roared loudly, scaring the senses out of Starfire and the rest of the Titans.

Raven was the first to react. She incased the strangers belongings in her black aura and gently pulled them from Starfires grip, depositing them to Danny. The boys eyes widened slightly at her show of power, but he didn't display any other shock outwardly. Instead, he turned his attention to Starfire.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, I just-" Danny sighed. "I don't like people messing with my stuff."

"I know the feeling." Raven said, her eyes boring holes into a certain green changling.

"But you let us touch your things in the park." Beastboy said.

"Yah but my stuff was spred all over the park floor. Its not like I had a choice to let you see or not."

"Or maybe its just _that_ bag that you don't like people touching." Raven said, pointing at the white luggage.

Danny blinked. "Okay, how do you keep doing that?! Its like you know everything I'm thinking." He said, crossing his arms.

"I do." Raven said, feeling the slight erge to smile.

"WHAT?" Danny yelled, fairly jumping out of his skin.

Raven raised an eyebrow, but her expression was hidden in the shadow of her hood. "I'm an empath. I can sense others emotions. I can read minds, but I don't unless I have a reason to. Is that a problem?" She asked, voice showing her usual control.

"No its just kinda-"

Raven was ready for it. Ready for this stranger to call her creepy, scairy, evil. Like all the others…

Danny saw the girl tense up slightly, and was able to guess why. He'd experienced it many times before. It was being judged by _what_ you are, not _who_ you are.

"Kinda cool." Danny finished. Raven looked at him intently. His face was serious, but his eyes were smiling. What he said was true; she could sense it. Sure she felt timidity, distrust, anxiousness, but these emotions weren't directed at her, but at the whole situation in general, and had been since she'd met him. The feeling mixed in with his comment was new, it was… understanding? That couldn't be right.

"You were right." Danny said, breaking Raven out of her thoughts. "The green bags my clothes bag. This bag is more personnal. I'd appresiate it being left alone." He said intensly, dirrecting the comment to the Titans in general.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"We have a lead." Robin said. "It looks like there was a ghost attack a few days ago. The victim hired a Private I., whome we talked to after the fight with Rancid. I need to know what you know about the would be thief."

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but Cyborg cut him off.

"Yo Robin, you missed the best part! The thief attached a street near the warehouse district."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So? SO?" Cyborg exclaimed, exasperated. "So, we still had cameras up there from the truck set up. We have the whole thing on tape!"

"That makes it easier."

"Sacurity cameras always make things easier." Cyborg said, sporting a large grin as he walked over to the computer, typing hurredly.

Raven floated to the couch and sat cross legged. Starfire joined her and focused her attention to the screen, waiting expectantly. Beastboy appeared out of nowhere, holding a huge bucket of popcorn. "Alright!" He chirped happily. "Movie night!"

Danny set uneasily by the changling.

A woman and small child walked into the camera view, walking in and out of the streetlight. Danny recongnised them as Jeremy and his mother. What the supposed thief Skulker?

Robin's sharp eyes noticed something in the shadows.

"Whats that behind the car?"

The rest of the Titans, and Danny, looked were Robin indicated. Something shot from the spot, headed toward the two walking on the road. Robin tensed up, as if he'd forgotten that this was a vidio, and was ready to help the two on the screen. Suddenly a being was floating above the two. He thrust his hand out, and a blast of energy hit the rocket, causing it to explode before reaching its target. The woman looked up as if startled by the noise. The little boy seemed to yell something to the woman, and another shot was fired from the shadowed figure, this time the floating figure missed, and the shot sent the lady back.

Robin looked the figure suspended above the two over in wonder. He was young, but his hair was snow white. His eyes glowed dangerously at the shadowed figure, said something, and cupped his gloved hands, causing some sort of green energy ball to form.

"That's him." Robin informed the others. "The white haired boy is the thief the lady described."

Raven looked at Danny, feeling a wave of shock, dread, pain, and panic course through him, but he kept his gaze level. She watched him as he consiously force himself to calm down. He was controlled, she'd give him that.

Danny needed a plan. The Teen Titans saw him as an enemy, and he needed to think of a way to survive this. Unfortunantly the only thing he could think right then was "_OH CRUD, OH CRUD, OH CRUD, OH CRUD, OH CRUD!!!!!!!!!"_

-----------------------------------------------

Skulker drifted through the city streets, and towards a small building near the center of Jump. There was nothing realy special about the house. It was old, the paint was peeling and the wood groaned with age. He entered be phazing through the splintered door. A letter addressed to 'Young Ethan Lexor' lay unmoved on the floor. He slid past the ancient wallpaper, and phazed through the ground, into the basement. It was mostly normal, filled with boxes carrying someones forgotten memories. One low bulb hung from the ceiling, its yellow light swinging back and forth on an imagined breeze.

Two poles stood parrallel in the center of the room, looking new and unnatural. Skulker reached the first and lifted a lid, typing something on the miniscule computer. Suddenly a wave of electricity shot up the steel pole, the white light eluminating the basement. The bolt jumped from the top of the first pole, reaching the second and the white lightning traveled up and down the second pole too.

The electricity jumped once again, creating a square, around which the white bolts danced. The inside of the square slowly became a green tint. After a few minutes of waiting for the prehestoric portal to fully open, Skulker shot through the swirling green mass, into the Ghost Zone. After he left, the portal flickered once and with a large pop, the electricity struck the light bulb out. Another pop and the portal and electricity ended, leaving the room in complete darkness, the smell of burnt metal in the air.

Skulker shot through the ghost zone, using the dimention as a shortcut. The small Pole Portal in Jump City was much closer to Vlads portal then Jump City was to Amity Park Illinois. The ghost hunter floated hurredly through the expanse. Suddenly his trackers began beeping. Alarmed, Skulker looked towards the desturbance in time to see a hooded figure dissapear around a floating hunk of rock. Skulker looked down at his sensors.

REAL WOLD ITEM DETECTED the inscription read. Skulker should have kept going. He should have let the figure go. But Skulker was a hunter, and the mysterious figure was running away, so Skulker did what all hunters do. He hunted.


	7. Misunderstood

**Here it is!** **Thank you all for your support. It means a lot. Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, or Danny Phantom, but** **the OC's are all mine.**

STRONG ENOUGH (a Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 7: Misunderstood

The Titans stared intently at the screen, ready for any lead on the white haired ghost thief.

Danny was wandering if they would notice if he melted into a puddle and slid under the sofa. He watched himself as Phantom release the ball of energy, forcing the figure who had shot first out of the shadows. The Titans gasped. It was some sort of man, made entirely of metal.

"Who-" Starfire started.

"Skulker." Danny answered.

The figure seemed to say something to the white haired boy, and pointed an arm at the human child, frozen in fear below.

"See if you can get sound." Robin ordered.

Cy pressed more keys, logging onto the microphone embedded in the camera. "I, I can't. The data recorder must have been damaged."

The gun shot. The white haired ghost placed his hands in-front of him, forming a safe green bubble around himself and the boy.

The ghost boy dropped the bubble and threw another blast at the villain, this time from the flat palm of his hand.

"Does the boy of white hair use star bolts also?" Starfire wondered.

It's called a ghost ray." Danny stated.

The Titans couldn't hear what the ghost boy said, but they could see the anger towards Skulker plainly on his face.

Skulker smiled, forming a retort. A gun emerged from his arm. He leveled it at the figure poised between himself and the blond child.

The gun fired. The ghost boy flew in a small loop, avoiding the blast. On his way around he thrust a fist out, sending a ghost ray that hit the man square on, sending him into the nearby wall. The Ghost Boy landed next to the human child standing in awe on the ground.

The child said something, backing away.

"Try the sound again Cyborg." Robin said earnestly. Not being able to hear what was going on was getting annoying.

Cyborg shook his head grimly. "Still no luck."

The ghost on the screen reached out to the child, but the boy shrunk back. The white haired thief knelt, hand held out to the boy, and said something to the child, face soft. What ever the spook had said, the little boy nodded and let the ghost hold him against the ghosts chest. The specter reached down to the ground, beginning to pick up the woman.

The villain rose behind him.

"Watch out!" Starfire screeched from the sofa, clutching a pillow to her chest.

The blast hit the ghost boy on the back, sending him toward the wall, away from the unmoving lady. The spectral teen curled around the little boy, protecting him. The ghost hit the wall, and shook his head, dust and ruble falling down his neck. His eyes flashed an iridescent green at the smirking villain.

He said something to Skulker, danger written on his face.

Skulker through back his head and laughed a silent laugh. Skulker spoke, and fired at the two, but they turned the same blue color the Titans remembered from the Box Ghost, slipping through the wall.

The villain on the screen blasted at the wall until it crumbled, which didn't take long. He walked through the smoke and out of the sight of the camera.

The Teen Titans watched the screen anxiously.

Suddenly the 'thief' came barreling through the smoke, hitting Skulker and throwing him back. The human boy was no where to be seen. The ghost boy zoomed toward the fallen villain. Skulker righted himself quickly, a blade extending from his arm, and he sliced it through the air at the oncoming boy. The teen spun to the side, dodging it expertly and gave Skulker an uppercut in the jaw on his way around. The ghostly teen blasted at the villains arm, knocking the blade off.

Skulker shoved the teen away, and recovered quickly, deploying a glowing net from his shoulder, trapping the ghost boy in its folds. A shock traveled along a cable connecting the net to Skulker and shocked the boy enveloped in the net. The teens back arched and he fell to the ground. The white haired teen's green eyes slowly opened, as Skulker triumphantly hauled the boy towards him. The ghosts eyes flashed angrily as he struggled against the blue netting. Skulker spoke again, bent cruelly over the boy.

"Cy-"

"It still wont work."

The boy in the net pulled away from the metal villain, pulled until the cord became taunt. Flying to the left, he wrapped the cord around the villains feet, causing Skulker to stumble.

Skulker sent another electric currant traveled up to the teen, but this time the ghost boy was ready. He dove down, landing on Skulker. The metal man's eyes widened in surprise as the electricity coursed through his metal suit. A blast of white light threw the two enemies apart. Phantom spun and lost momentum, floating in the air; the blast had evaporated the net. Skulker deployed his metal jet wings and corrected his fall floating above the boy. Suddenly the wings folded back into his armor. Skulker dropped, landing heavily on the ground and, outraged, yelled something at the smirking boy above him.

The boy soon became serious, pointing a finger at Skulker.

The man said something that evidently riled the young ghost, and was soon pelted with the boy's green ghost rays, though none got a direct hit.

The metal suited ghost smiled and said something that made the boy yell out at the armored enemy again, his attack intensifying. The villain shot some sort of glowing cube at the boy, who dodged.

With another supposed insult, Skulker blasted at the boy who put a shield around himself. Skulker continued his attack, but began looking around for something.

After he spotted it, his metal face formed an evil smile. He stopped firing and a large square emerged from his shoulder, holding multiple rockets. He pointed it at the teen. The boy took a fighting stance and dropped the shield. A blue-white color encased one of his hands as he thrust one out. A jet of blue hit the villains feet, instantly freezing them in place. Another shot from the floating teen, and the rocket launcher fell to the ground, severed from the rest of the metal body.

Skulker summoned a gun out of the same shoulder and shot, but not at the ghost kid, at a cable behind him. When the boy on the screen turned he was caught in the face with a swinging sign, throwing him heavily onto the ground. A large claw shot out of Skulkers chest, and latched on the the boys back. The boy's green eyes widened, and with a jerk he was pulled into Skulkers waiting arms. A pare of sword blades came out of Skulkers arm, which he held under the boys chin.

"Where does this dude fit all this stuff?" Beastboy wondered.

Skulker sneered.

The ghost teen's face became overwhelmed with pain as blue electricity was once again pumped through his body.

Slowly, painfully, the kid brought his hands, glowing green, to the cord connecting him to Skulker. He joined them with the metal, and the cord was instantly severed, letting the ghostly teen fall forward. The boy turned, pressed a blue hand to Skulkers chest. A white flash, and Skulkers torso, and one of his arms were also encased in ice.

The villain struggled for a moment as the teen slipped away. The boy regained his balance, a ball of his own green energy suspended in between his hands.

It hadn't taken him long, but long enough for Skulker to reveal a round disk, resembling a CD without the hole through the center, and hold it gently in-between two fingers in his free arm, his metal face bent in a grin.

The Titans could not hear the menacing words, but they could see the intent on Skulkers face as he dropped the disk. The ghost boys eyes instantly grew large and he dove immediately toward the woman who had been unconscious the entire fight.

The screen was filled with white green light, smoke and debris coming into view. The Titans were all on their feet, holding their breaths. Slowly the smoke cleared, revealing the ghost teen, eyes tightly squeezed closed. He was on his back, the lady held tightly to him. He was the blue color that signified intangibility.

The boy on the screen laid the lady down gently and stood, looking around. A large hole had been blown in the street where he had been standing, and the only sign of Skulker was the half melted ice that had once held him, the severed claw which had caused the boy so much pain, and the box like rocket launcher Phantom had managed to cut off of the villain. Phantom scowled, kicking the box gadget.

The ghost boy walked over to the lady, and knelt next to her, placing two fingers on her neck.

Robins eyes widened in confusion. The thief was checking for a pulse? Why did he even care?

The lady moved.

The boy backed up a bit, watching as the lady slowly righted herself, holding her head. She stumbled as she stood, and the ghost kid caught her, helping her to stand. The lady looked up, into his green eyes.

She opened her mouth in what the Titans knew was a blood curling scream.

The ghost cringed, but he didn't let the woman fall.

She yelled something, regaining her balance. The ghost let her go, hands held up in surrender.

The lady backed away from him. She lifted her purse over her head and threw it at him. It hit around the boys middle, seemingly slicing through his being. He watched as his torso reconnected, and looked to the woman, shaking his head.

The woman shouted again, backing up further.

The boy shook his head again, speaking to the lady, pleading from the looks of it.

The lady said something, visibly terrified. Suddenly her eyes grew large. She took a step nearer to the ghost, eyes angry and indignant.

Robin scowled. What had the boy said to her?

It was the boys turn to back up, moving his hands side to side.

The woman lost her courage, backing into the crumbling wall behind her.

The ghost said something else, trying to tell her something.

The lady began to panic.

The teen shook his head once more, taking a step toward her. The lady's eyes widened, and she slid to the ground, hands held over her head.

The ghost stopped in his tracks. His face changed slightly portraying pain, then rage, then sorrow as he watched the huddled woman. He slowly backed away, into the shadows, disappearing.

The lady opened her eyes and looked around. The lady stood, turned and ran, occasionally looking back. The purse was left in the middle of the street, forgotten. Robin stared at it, seriously ticked by how many pieces were missing.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Stay still!" Skulker breathed. The cloaked runner had somehow managed to stay in front of the hunter for quite a while, having the advantage in the ghostly landscape. Skulker was intrigued by the way the character would dart though the objects Skulker found solid. Whoever it was, they were human.

The Ghost Zone was the reverse of the human world; the objects a human found solid in the 'real' world could be easily phased through by the ethereal beings found in the ghostly dimension, and in the same way, humans could walk through the articles native to the empty realm.

The person reached one of the many purple doors seemingly floating in thin air via a strange rock pathway suspended in the void, and threw the entrance open. With one look behind, the figure disappeared into what Skulker could only assume was one of the many pocket dimensions contained within the territory known as the Ghost Zone.

Skulker followed, looking around warily at his new surroundings. The eerie green and purples of the Ghost Zone gave way to shadowed grays and blues. Large black, cracked statues portrayed gigantic, snarling dragons bordering a door, a door so large that Skulker stopped for a moment, awed by the black and red entry looming before him. Above a pitch black sky, without stars or moon domed the scene. Skulker turned back to see the hooded being turn and stand, unmoving, the figures grey eyes locked with the lifeless green ones. Skulker smiled in triumph, his business with Plasmius forgotten. These eyes were human eyes, and any human willing to venture through dimensions was well worth the hunter's time.

"Go back. This place is not welcoming to those who do not need what it can give." The figure said. The voice was a boy's voice, low and raspy, but very human.

"I believe I decide what I need child. Not some misplaced creature such as you." Skulker smirked, two shining guns protruding from his shoulder.

"Your choice." The mysterious boy said quietly. He turned to the free standing door, and placed a hand on the black structure. Suddenly a flash of red light the boy was gone. Skulker's eyes widened and he walked to the black stone. The surface was flawless. Skulker understood the way one phased through objects, but this was different, it had looked like the boy had been absorbed by the stone. Skulker touched the surface and cried out in pain, as he was blinded by the same red light.

--------------------------------------------------

"Wait, I thought that kid was the bad guy." Beastboy said, confused.

"I did to." Robin said, frowning.

"but he didn't hurt her, or even take anything-"

"Look, all we know is what the Investigator told us. I think we should investigate further before we decide one way or the other."

Robin was confused. What ever the ghost had said to the lady had terrified her, yet he hadn't left her on her own when the explosion happened. If only the clip had sound, this would be much easier.

Robin's face relaxed some what. They didn't have a full record of what had happened that night, but they did have an eye witness. He reached into one of the pockets in his utility belt, and pulled out the paper Maxwell Jarson the investigator had given him. On it was the name and address of the woman and her son.

MARY AND JEREMY GREENE, 3245 WEST PLATNUM ST

JUMP CITY CALIFORNIA

"I believe we have a house call to make tomorrow." Robin said.

-------------------------------------------------------

**Wow. I just wrote an entire fight scene without using Danny Phantom's name. That was hard. Thank you for reading!**


	8. The Phantom

**Here it is. This chapter took much longer than others have, and I'm Sorry.**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter Eight: The Phantom

Mary Greene sat at her kitchen table, staring at her empty coffee cup. The day was barely beginning, yet Mrs. Greene was exhausted. She hadn't slept well. Mary's brown eyes scanned the room. Dirty plates from the last few meals were stacked in uneven piles on the table and counter, the floor needed sweeping, and the trash can was filled past overflowing. Mary eyed all of these things idly. This wasn't how she had been raised. She had always kept her house spotless, clean and neat. But things weren't as they always were. Things had changed.

A small sound to her left caused Mary to jump. She spun to see her son, sleepily rubbing his eyes with one fist.

"Mom?" he asked.

"Good morning Jeremy. Sleep well?" She asked, her voice light and confident; the two things she wasn't feeling at the time.

The boy nodded, walked up to the table slid onto the wooden chair across from his mother.

The lady's forehead wrinkled in anxiety. "How are you doing?"

The boy lifted his head so that he could see her over the stack of dishes. "Fine."

"If you want to talk about-"

"I said I'm fine."

Mary sighed. She had always known that there would be conversations like this between her and her son, but she had counted on them starting at adolescence, not now at six years of age.

"I wish you would tell me what happened."

Jeremy shook his head, wilting down behind the dishes.

The woman leaned forward, and pushed the dirty plates out of the way. "At least tell me how you made it all the way home all alone. Did that _thing_ bring you?"

"He's not a thing. He's a boy."

"He could have hurt you! Jeremy do you know what you're putting me through? For all I know he could have done something terrible to you and you won't tell me one way or another! I feel so helpless. I saw that thing just floating there, and then, the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a street that looks like it went through a war, and you're gone. How could I let that happen?"

Jeremy stood and moved swiftly to his mother's side, throwing his arms around her. "It wasn't your fault. I'm fine, Mom, I really am."

"Maybe Jarson will get some answers."

Jeremy pulled away abruptly. He didn't like that man. He talked weird and asked uncomfortable questions.

There was a knock at the door. Jeremy's mother flinched at the sound, and walked out of the dining room, a hand pressed to her heart. Jeremy heard the rapping continue, and the familiar sliding sound that accompanied the chain lock being pulled to the side. He walked to the doorway and peeked around the corner, into the entryway. The door was open, and a large outline was visible behind his mother's slim figure.

"Sorry to bother you this early ma'am, but I have a bit o' news for you." The detective said, holding his hat in his hand.

Mary nodded and stood to the side, allowing Jarson to enter. The investigator immediately walked towards Jeremy, and knelt a few feet from the boy, smiling good naturedly. "Now how have you been little Mister?"

Jeremy didn't answer.

"He still won't talk to me about it." Mary said wearily.

"Give him a few days. Something like what you two went through can be tough for a little guy like him."

Jeremy looked from his mom to Jarson and back again. Did they think he couldn't hear them?

"I just wish he would help fill in some of the pieces."

"Speaking of pieces," Jarson said, "I've been able to contact someone who might help us piece these clues together." The man stood and turned to face the woman. "You have heard of the Teen Titans, haven't you?"

Mary's eyes bugged. Of course she'd heard of the Teen Titans. Everyone in Jump had heard of the Teen Titans. Kids idolized them. Adults thanked them. Radio hosts bashed them. News reporters accredited their career success to them. The Titans were amazing beyond comprehension; one team who single handedly protected the citizens of Jump City, amazing individuals placed on high pedestals by pedestrians.

"I thought the frightening ghost villain you described fit their field better than mine."

Mary's facial expression became one of shock. "You're not leaving us are you?"

With the meager fee the investigator was earning off of this wild goose chase he should quit, but that wasn't what he wanted to do. This case was just too interesting. "No, I'm not planning on quitting you two. I was just looking for some backup."

Mary nodded. "What did they say?"

"They seemed very interested. I talked to them yesterday, so they should be contacting you soon. I gave them this address."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"S-sorry Ma'am," Jarson stuttered. "It was the logical thing to do. That way they can get the facts and start working the case right off the bat."

Mary nodded in defeat. "You're right. Maybe I'm being unreasonable. I just, I already shouted were I lived at that _thing_, I'm wary of broadcasting it again."

"He's not a _thing_." Jeremy muttered, but no one heard him.

Something hit Danny square in the face, waking him instantly. He gave a muffled cry and tore the object off of his head. He opened his eyes, and peered at the pillow that had assaulted him. He lowered it to see Raven, face as unreadable as ever.

"Get up." She ordered.

"What is it with you guys hitting me in the head with stuff?" Danny asked irritability.

A small almost-smile flitted across the girls face. Danny sat up quickly, in an attempt to quench his sudden feeling of vulnerability Raven evoked in him. A little too quickly; he fell off of the sofa.

Danny glanced up at Raven and almost missed the momentary show of amusement that flitted across her face. Danny scowled.

"Hey!" Beastboy said, walking in. "You're awake." The teen's cheerful expression changed to one of confusion. "What are you doing on the floor?"

Danny sat up, straightening his nightshirt. "Being clumsy. Apparently it's the only thing I'm good at." He said. Danny looked towards the two. "How late did I sleep? Is everyone else up?"

"It's almost nine, and if Beastboy's awake, everyone is." Raven answered.

Danny ran a hand through his hair and stood up, grabbing his bags.

He looked at Raven, eyes serious. "I'm expected to come to the Greene's house with you guys aren't I?"

"You are." She answered.

Danny sighed. "Thought so." He said as he stood and turned, heading for the restroom.

Raven gave Beastboy an incredulous look. "So…why _are_ you up?"

Beastboy yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Why shouldn't I be up?"

"Because you consider noon to be awfully early in the morning."

Beastboy yawned again and smiled. "I HAVE to play that dude! I though if I got up earlier I could get him to play me before Robin sends us somewhere."

"Too late." Raven turned from the changeling. "We're heading off as soon as Danny's ready and you guys have eaten breakfast."

"Not wasting any time are we?" Cyborg commented, joining the pair.

The doors slid open at the back of the operations center, and Robin walked through, Starfire following close behind.

"No. We're not." Robin said. He surveyed his team. "I want to talk to you guys about something. Someone actually."

"Ooh ooh; is it that ghost with the weird hair?" Beastboy asked.

"You should talk about weird hair." Raven muttered eyeing the green bed head perched atop Beastboy's cranium.

Robin shook his head. "No. It's about Danny."

The assembly stared at their leader.

"We need to know who he is. We know next to nothing about him, where he came from, or why he's here. I want you to keep your eyes open, and tell me if you notice anything."

Starfire looked to her leader and friend, eyes large. "Is this because the gut feeling tells you he is bad?"

"More than that. He's so wary of us, since the moment we met him. And after the video was shown, he didn't even pretend to be friendly anymore, he just sort of clammed up, like a scared animal."

"What about scared animals!? Or clams?" Beastboy huffed defensively.

"He's only been here one day." Cyborg reasoned, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Give him some time."

"We don't have time. We have questions and we have a mission, but we do not have time."

Jeremy was in his room, trying not to give in to his own excitement, which is hard for any six year old to do. The Teen Titans were coming. THE Teen Titans were coming to _his_ house. Jeremy picked his notebook off of the desk, and stuffed it under the bed. They probably wouldn't come in his room anyways, but he should clean it just in case.

His mother had flipped when Jarson told her. She had taken the trash out, washed the dishes, and scrubbed until small house reeked of cleaning chemicals.

There was an impatient rap on the door. "Jeremy," his mom called. "You need to take a bath."

Jeremy stopped pushing things into inconspicuous crevasses and turned to the closed door. Maybe his mom was getting better now. She hadn't mentioned baths since the fight. Jeremy wasn't fond of baths, but it seemed so normal for his mother to order him to take one.

It was good to know she was okay.

"Danny Phantom." The boy whispered, enjoying the way the words fell off his tongue. Danny Phantom had told Jeremy not to tell his mother about him, and Jeremy wouldn't. The boy welled up with pride, proud that he could keep a secret.

He went to the closet and grabbed a shirt and pair of jeans. He walked to his bedroom door and opened it, peeking through. His mother had moved on. He made his way to the bathroom.

Danny Phantom had kept him alive. So Jeremy wouldn't tell them anything… even if they were the Titans. Danny Phantom had protected Jeremy, and now Jeremy would protect Danny Phantom.

The T car parked in front of the residence, and the R Cycle skid to a stop seconds later.

Danny opened the car door and stepped out, scanning the area with practiced eyes. He took in the weathered porch steps, the row of small marigolds under the lone window, the tire swing hanging from the leaf-bare tree. The house itself was modest, a brick wedge driven between two slightly more ornate dwellings. Danny was much more relaxed since he was actually invited this time, but he was still extremely cautious, and Robin noticed.

He watched, his gaze hidden by his mask, as Danny placed a hand lightly on the opening of his 'personal' bag. The stranger had agreed to leave his clothing bag at the tower, but, by silent decree, refused to leave the mysterious white shoulder bag.

"Whose gonna knock?" Beastboy asked.

Robin walked up to the door, the Titans gathering behind him, Danny timidly peeking over Cyborg's shoulder. Robin lifted a gloved fist, and ripped three times on the wooden surface.

The door swung open immediately, showing the pretty face of a woman. Her brown eyes glided over the assembly, and she blushed, throwing opening the door fully. "Please come in. I'm Mary. It is so good to meet you. I mean I've seen you guys before but…"

Mary stopped. "Please, follow me."

The Titans were ushered into a room which held a small television set, a modest tan couch, a number of wooden chairs, and a certain detective.

"Robin." the man said, holding out a hand.

"Jarson. It's nice to see you again." Robin said agreeably, clasping the man's hand in his own.

Beastboy made his way to the TV, staring at the undersized box. "How do they watch anything on this?" he asked, and was promptly smacked on the back of the head by Cyborg.

"Be nice." The half-robot ordered.

Starfire giggled at the two, and Raven sighed. She looked back at the last member of their party, and was startled by Danny's eyes. They seemed troubled and brooding. Raven followed his gaze, and noticed a boy, sitting as far from the Titans as possible in the crowded room.

"Jeremy?" Mary said sweetly. "Would you say hi to the nice people?"

The young kid's arms were crossed as he watched the whole assembly through guarded brown eyes which obviously came from his mother's side. The overall appearance of the boy was one of wariness and suspicion which somehow reminded Raven of…

Danny?

Jeremy shook his head and looked down.

It was almost disturbing, how the two boy's emotions flowed in half-controlled, synchronized streams. Danny was stiff, Jeremy was stiff. Danny was uncomfortable, Jeremy was uncomfortable. One thing was different though; the way they viewed each other. The younger boy saw Danny as someone to be avoided. Danny watched Jeremy with concern.

"W-well," the woman said, obviously troubled by her son's attitude.

"I think we should get down to business." Robin stated. The woman nodded.

------------

"I-I don't remember. I don't think he said his name." Mary stuttered, wringing her hands as she stared at the intense leader sitting across from her.

"Anything else? We watched the video, and he didn't look like he was hurting you, he looked like-"

"He was trying to help." Mary whispered. She cradled her head in her hands. "I'm so confused. It's a ghost, I know it is. Their supposed to be bad right? I never really thought it-he I guess, or I guess he once was a he- that he _wasn't _evil. I mean is it even possible to be dead and good at the same time?"

"Yes." It was the first thing Jeremy had said the entire discussion. All the eyes in the room shifted to the first grader, but he didn't see them. His eyes were firmly fixed on the stained carpet at his feet.

"Jeremy," Mary said, her helpless attitude completely gone now that Jeremy had finally said something. "This is serious. Will you please, PLEASE tell me what happened?"

Jeremy shook his head.

"Jeremy…"

"May I talk to him?" Starfire said hesitantly. After a quick nod from Robin and Mrs. Greene, the Tamaranian stood and drifted slowly to the boy kneeling in front of the silent kid. Jeremy kept his eyes on the floor. "Friend, you know of whom we speak, do you not?"

No answer.

"I have watched the video with my good friends. The mysterious ghost of a boy spoke words to you Jeremy. What did he say?"

The boy kept his eyes on the ground.

A wave of doubt swept over Starfires face. "Why do you not speak to me?"

"Did the phantom tell not to?" Danny said carefully.

Jeremy's eyes darted to Danny's in shock. "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO HE IS?"

"Who who is?" Danny faked.

"Phantom. You called him Phantom. How did you know that was his name?"

The eyes in the room locked on Danny. Honestly, Mary hadn't noticed him.

"Are you a Teen Titan also?" she interrupted.

The shadow of a smile flitted across Danny's face. "No. I'm just here for the food."

Beastboy snickered at the all-too-true statement.

Danny turned back to the brown eyes of a boy, guilt weighing down on the teen because of the card he had pulled. "I said _A_ phantom. That's a ghost. You're the one who said his name _IS _Phantom."

Jeremy paled.

"A secret is a hard thing." Danny continued gently. "At first it's fun, knowing something no one else knows; it makes you feel so strong and independent. But it's not like that for long. Soon it hurts you- It tears at you inside. Soon the only thing that keeps you from telling is fear. Don't let that happen to you Jeremy. If you truly believe Phantom was trying to help, believe that he didn't mean to put you in a place like that." Danny said, head full of images from his own life- or lack there of. "Please. There are enough secrets in the world."

The Titans stared at Danny, stunned. It was one of the first glimpses they had gotten of who Danny really was, and what he said was so heavy, so dark, so true…

Jeremy looked at the people around him carefully. There was something about what the blue-eyed boy had said that was so hard not to accept, that seemed so familiar…

Jeremy swung his feet back and forth as he spoke, his voice low and meek. It was no problem hearing him in the stalk still living room. "I asked if he was a ghost, and he said yes. And then I was scared, but he said that he wouldn't hurt me. And then he said he would get my and my Mom away from the bad guy. He promised." Jeremy looked at his hands, and then into the Titans one at a time. If his eyes had been guarded before, they were open books now, full of trust and loyalty. "After that other guy tried to get us, Danny Phantom sort of just pulled me through a wall. I don't know how. And then he said he'd get Mom and told me to run. I ran for a long time. I went to this Smiley's Warehouse place, and then I…" Jeremy blushed. "I fell asleep. I felt so tired. When I woke up, and I was in my bed, and Danny Phantom was there. He told me my Mom was okay, and not to say anything, and I wasn't going to."

Danny winced.

"Then he told me to go to sleep, and I closed my eyes, and he left. Then I got up and went to Mom, and she was on the phone-"

"Wait." Mary Greene said. "That thing, boy, whatever, was _in _this house?!"

"How did he know where you lived?" Robin questioned.

Realization donned on Mary. "I-I was almost delirious. When this Phantom guy was trying to explain, I kept telling him all these things to make him leave. Of course ghosts are supposed to haunt stuff, so I yelled where I lived at him. Among other things."

"How very convenient." Raven said, raising an eyebrow.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Mary answered sheepishly. "Like I said I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Your first encounter can be terrifying." Danny consoled. "Freaking out is understandable."

Mary nodded.

"You said among other things. What other things exactly?" Cyborg asked.

"I… wasn't very nice. I accused him of taking Jeremy, and when he tried to tell me my boy was safe, I said he was a liar, and that he couldn't fool me into believing someone like him wasn't after innocent people. It still is sort of muddled. I threw my purse, and it went right through him. I think that night have scared me the most. I was backed against a building, and he just left, sort of suddenly. I think I even thought I chased him off. I didn't know what to think. My whole life everything seemed so safe, with the exception of Jeremy's father's death. I know how to deal with grief. I don't know how to deal with a ghost."

"So, this guy is definitely a good guy." Beastboy said as the Titans and their guest left the home.

"We can't be totally sure about this Danny Phantom until we meet him, but I would say he looks to be on our side." Robin said. "He gave a lot to keep that family safe. I can't believe we didn't see that yesterday."

Danny's heart felt suddenly warm, but he firmly forced himself back into indifference.

"Hey! Is it okay if we call him just Phantom?" Beastboy asked. "Having a ghost Danny and OUR Danny is going to get confusing."

"I'm sure he'd be fine with that." Danny said.

"That's funny isn't it?" Beastboy said with a toothy smile. "Both of the Danny's we know have to do with ghosts?"

"Hilarious." Danny said his voice a little higher than it was normally. He succumbed to nervous laughter, than lapsed into silence.

**I'm sorry this took so long. I know you guys (and girls) don't care to hear my excuses, so I won't give you any. Just know I didn't mean to leave you hanging, and I haven't stopped writing this. Thanks.**


	9. Lack of Amity

**Sixteen reviews for the last chapter!?! You guys are awesome. Anyways, thanks tons for those who reviewed, and special thanks to Waterdog and DGirl101 (you both ROCK) for motivating me. **

**Disclaimer: Some people come up with extremely witty bits to put here, but I stink at those. I'll have to stick with I don't own DP or TT and please don't sue me.**

**Here goes!**

Strong Enough (Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter Nine: Lack of Amity

----Amity Park, Illinois----

_Friendship; friendly, peaceful relations, as between nations, groups, ect. _That's the Webster Dictionary's definition of the word 'amity'.

How ironic.

Sam sighed as she walked through the crowded hall on her way to her locker. There had been no peaceful relations since Danny had left. Everyone seemed tense and unapproachable.

The other high school students watched her with an unmasked curiosity that irritated the Goth. Sometimes someone would even come up to her to tell her how sorry they were, pitying her. She hated it, and distanced herself even further from her peers now that the unthinkable had happened to someone she cared about. She had way too many secrets to risk becoming friends with anyone.

Sam's parents constantly asked her if she was okay, and if she wanted to talk about it, pretending they actually cared. As if. They had never liked Danny. They were probably glad he was gone.

And then there were the Guys in White. The agents followed Sam and Tucker mercilessly, questioning them numerous times about Danny's location. Their interest in Danny was unnerving; Sam wished with all her might that she didn't know why, but she did.

It was because of the evidence that the Fenton's untimely deaths were caused by a ghost. The GIW's were undoubtedly convinced that Danny Phantom was the malevolent spook responsible for the crime, and that the heartless ghost would strike again. Logically, the sole survivor would be the main target, and the Guys in White were determined to find Danny before Phantom did.

Sam turned to her locker, suddenly glad Danny had run. It would have broken his heart to know most of Amity Park blamed him for his family's death.

Not that his heart wasn't broken already.

Sam spun her lock impatiently, aware that a number of eyes were glued to her back. She pulled the metal door open, heart stinging when she saw the picture taped to the back of her locker. She reached in and pulled it off the metal angrily. She looked at it a moment, studying the three faces in the photo. She looked at Tucker, arms draped over his two best friend's shoulders. His eyes were shining, and a grin lit his face. On his left stood a slightly younger Sam, a small smile on her lips as she looked at her friends. Sam turned her gaze to Danny, his relaxed expression and innocent smile making her hurt all over again. How could they have been so care free? So innocent? So naive? Sam took the picture in both hands, intending to tear it to smithereens.

This wasn't some game they were playing.

This was a war.

She pulled against the picture ripping half way though the image but stopped, unable to tare completely through the paper reminder of how simple things used to be.

She couldn't do it. Sam looked at the picture once again. Carefully she picked the tape off of one corner and used it to fix the rip she had made in the snapshot. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to postpone the tears until she was alone, in her own bed. She put the photo back in the locker, pushing it against the far wall, pressing down the edges and praying the tape would stick.

Sam glanced at the empty Fenton Thermos against the far wall and grabbed her books. For some unknown reason she grasped the thermos too before slamming the locker shut. She turned and found herself looking into the eyes of Valerie Grey. A scowl flashed across Sam's face.

"Look." Valerie said quickly, noticing Sam's reaction. "I know you don't like me very much, but if you want to believe it or not, I care about what happens to Danny as much as you do. I just wanted to say that if you need anything..." Valerie let the sentence hang in the air as she watched Sam's resentment turn to shock.

"Why would you help me?" Sam asked, eyes narrowing.

"I just told you! I want to help because your one of Danny's best friends. And for the record, you've always hated me more than I hate you."

Sam couldn't deny that. She was hard on the Ghost Hunter… but then again, Valerie's main purpose in life was wasting one of Sam's closest friends.

"Sorry." Sam said half heartedly. "It's just-"

"I know. You want to keep Danny safe. You always have."

"HEY SAM!"

The two girls turned to see Tucker running towards them, waving a hand above his head. The students in his path moved quickly to the side, watching the teen with the customary 'poor boy' look. Sam wondered if the techno-geek even noticed.

Tucker stopped a few feet from the girls, bewildered by the sight before him. "Whoa. You two are standing about two feet from each other, and no ones shouting or throwing things. Did I miss something?"

Valerie gave the boy a hollow smile. "We were just talking about Danny."

Sam lifted an eyebrow. "We were?"

"… Yes, we were."

Suddenly a scream echoed through the hall, causing every person in sight to instantly drop what they were doing and run full speed towards the nearest exit. Sam pressed her body against the lockers, thermos still clasped in her hand, as the students rushed towards past her, already a full fledged mob. Valerie pressed herself against the lockers also, and after being pushed a few yards by the crowd Tucker managed to make it to the side of the panicked student body as well.

Valerie's eyes glinted in determination and she began to force her way against the swarm; towards the scream.

Sam gritted her teeth and followed.

The traveling got easier as the two neared the spot the teens were running away from. Valerie ducked out of the hall, probably to change. This gave Sam time to get ahead of the huntress without being noticed. Another scream reached Sam's ears. She gripped the Thermos and followed the shrieks to a pair of double doors with the word GYM written on them. Sam looked through the glass, but found that somehow the window had been blocked so that she couldn't get a good view. She placed a hand carefully on wood, pushing the door open about two inches.

Paullina sat on the floor, staring fearfully at the black shadow of a being floating above her.

"What's wrong Princess?" the ghost mocked. "Are you afraid of me? It's not surprising. You've always had the Ghost Boy to fight your battles, and now that he's gone," A wicked smile played on the spooks sorry excuse for a face. "There's no prince in shining armor is there? You're all alone, you're weak, and so helpless…"

Sam's eyes narrowed. Spectra. Sam opened the thermos, finger on the appropriate button. If she could get the ghost while she was distracted-

A hand was placed heavily on Sam's shoulder. The girl gasped, spinning, thermos ready.

"Uh Sam?" Tucker whispered, eyes on the thermos pressed against his stomach. "I'm human. That thing won't work on me."

Sam let out the breath she had been holding. "Don't scare me like that!" She hissed. She turned to the door and carefully pushed it in.

A pair of red eyes stared back at her.

"Boo."

With a cry Sam spun to the side, barely managing to miss the ray of ecto energy before it messed up her makeup, along with other things. The green glob of a ghost, better known as Bertrand, phased through the singed wood and turned, eyeing Sam and Tucker maliciously. With a sinking feeling in her stomach Sam realized what had been blocking the window.

"Awe, so cute. The two tag-alongs think they can handle us all by themselves."

Sam scowled, lifting the thermos and readying herself for battle. "You beat us? You must be joking."

"Funny- I was about to say the same thing. Sorry girl, but Danny Phantom's not here to protect you."

Sam growled. She was perfectly capable of protecting herself. Wasn't she?

Tucker puffed out his chest bravely. "You know, if you're trying to scare us, it isn't working."

"It should be." Bertrand said. The ghostly assistant morphed before their eyes, taking the form of a very large, very green serpent.

Tuck gulped. "Okay, I guess my lack of fear is debatable-"

The familiar sound of an ecto-gun interrupted nearby, a pink blast sending the shape-shifter flying.

"Your toast, ghost freak." The Red Huntress said, her voice hard. She leveled her weapon and fired. The ghost dodged, coming up behind the Huntress, shifting back to his gelatinous form.

"Well well, another wannabe."

Valerie shot and missed again.

"Do you really think you can protect this town alone?"

"I always HAVE protected this town alone!"

Bertrand dove at the girl, but Valerie ducked, pulling her board around in a tight loop.

Sam gritted her teeth in determination. This went against every one of the 'Laws of Hating Valerie' ever written but- "We have to help her."

Tucker looked at her. "What?"

"We have to do something. Danny would have our heads if we let some ghost have free reign in his town." The two turned back towards the fight.

Bertrand sneered at the girl. "You've always had help keeping the ghosts in check. You've always had Phantom, if you admit it or not."

Valerie roared in rage, finally nailing the ghost. "Phantom is a murderer. He's a threat and I never trusted him."

"Is that right? Or deep down did you wonder if he was really how Amity pictured him? Did you think that just maybe-"

"Stop it!" The Huntress yelled.

"Hey goop ball, leave her alone." Tuck said, valiantly, stepping forward.

"And you. What kind of best friend are you? You let Danny down."

Tucker stopped mouth gaping. "I-I…"

"If you hadn't been so self-centered and foolish, you would have paid attention. You would have seen it coming."

"_I can't let him get to me. I have to get him away from here."_ Tucker thought. The boy gulped. "Yeah, well, your not so great." He said weakly. "You hide behind Spectra and just free load off of her. She's the _real_ threat. She's the one who does all the work. You're just a sorry excuse for a sidekick."

Bertrand's eyes widened.

Bingo. Tucker would have smiled if he hadn't been running for his life from the enraged specter.

"Get back here ghost! I'm not through with you!" The Red Huntress fumed, revving her board up.

"Valerie, wait!" the ghost hunter turned towards Sam. The Goth pointed at the gym door. "Penelope Spectra's in there. She has Paullina. You take her down, and Tuck and I will finish this guy off."

Valerie nodded. "Fine, just be caref-" Realization hit her in the face. "_Valerie?!_ How did you know my name?" She demanded.

"Not now, I'll explain later." Sam said, running the direction Tucker had taken.

Valerie didn't have time to be shocked. Instead she zoomed into the gym, ready for a fight…

------------------------------------

Tucker huffed as he spun around the corner. The halls were empty long ago, making it easier to make his way through the maze, but also easier for Bertrand to keep up.

"_I really need to get into better shape."_ The tech loving teen thought. He turned left, losing a little momentum as he rounded the corner. He looked over his shoulder to see Bertrand take the turn in the form of a green cougar. Tucker yelped and pushed himself to run faster. His side began to sting almost unbearably. This had better work.

The ghost rose from the ground in front of Tucker, grinning at the human. Tuck slid to a halt and took another left turn, sprinting off again, the ghoul giving chase. Tucker's eyes darted from side to side. Now he new how Danny felt after Dash failed a class. Tuckers backpack thumped against him, the heavy gadgetry holding him back. A roar from behind gave Tucker enough fear-induced energy to make it to the next corner. He bolted left once again, the enraged spirit not far behind.  
Bertrand grinned. He was gaining.

Tucker spotted an open door, and propelled himself through it, slamming the door shut behind him.

Bertrand smirked. As if the child thought that the door could keep him out. This would be too easy. The ghost stuck his head through the wood, and was met with several surprises. First off, the boy wasn't alone. An enraged girl in black stood beside him. Second, the girl was armed with a thermos. Third, the cap was off, and the device was pointed at Bertrand's head.

Sam fired, holding the container steady as the thermos pulled the screaming ghost in. after the blue-white light died down Sam replaced the lid, smirking.

Tucker immediately fell to his knees, grasping Sam around the shins. "Never make me be bait again!" he exclaimed.

"Get off of me Tuck!" Sam said, annoyed. "We need to find Valerie."

--------------------

BAM BAM BAM!

Valerie shot another round at the ghost in front of her. Spectra dodged them, grinning maliciously at the huntress. "That all you got?" Pity. I thought with your reputation you would be _better_ than the ghosts you fight."

"I am better."

"It doesn't seem like it does it?" Spectra swooped towards Valerie, catching the girl by the shoulder. "Seems like your hunting skills are just a joke, a sorry excuse for you to play with a few toys. How could you think you can keep this place safe? Its only a matter of time before you find a ghost that's to strong for you. Then what happens?"

Valerie felt a burden of guilt weigh at her shoulders. The ghost was right. She wasn't good enough. Her energy seemed to leave her, and she slumped down in Spectra's grasp.

A blue light enveloped the ghost, pulling her away from her victim. Spectra tried to pull away, but was slowly sucked in after her assistant.

Valerie lifted her head to see Sam clap the lid on a smoking soup container. Tucker walked up to the huntress, clearly concerned. "Val? You okay?" he asked. "What ever that lady said, don't believe a word of it."

Valerie let him help her up, rubbing her head with one hand. "Why was that ghost here anyway?"

"That's easy to figure out. Spectra feeds off misery. With Phantom gone and Danny missing, this town is full of it. I'm surprised she didn't show up earlier." Same said.

Valerie's head began to clear. She looked over at Paullina's unconscious form. "So she targets the weakest. Typical."

"Alright, this was a nice chat, but I think we need to go now." Tucker said, pulling Sam towards the doorway.

"Wait!" Valerie called. "How did you guys know who I am? No one knows except Dad, Mr. Masters (Sam couldn't help noticing the bitter edge to Valerie's voice as she said the name), and Phantom know I'm the Red Huntress."

Sam sighed and turned back towards Valerie. "One, this suit doesn't conceal your face half as well as the first one. And two, a friend figured it out."

"What friend?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other. "Danny." Tuck said.

"What? And he was… okay with it?"

"Oh yeah!" Tuck answered. "He thought you being a ghost hunter was simply to die for." This earned Tucker a tired smile from Valerie and a swift elbow in the ribs via Sam.

"Valerie, we've known for a long time. If we were going to rat you out, we would have by now." Sam explained.

The two friends turned towards the door once again.

Valerie scowled, torn. She knew the ghost had been using her, but some of what Spectra had said was true. With the Fentons gone and Phantom no where to be found (not that that was a bad thing) Valerie was alone, face to face with a whole dimension worth of enemies. Valerie had never asked for help, and she wasn't about to start, but this wasn't about her and her stubbornness. This was about protecting Amity Park. About making sure that someday the town could live up to its name.

"Sam, Tucker, wait a sec. This is gonna sound crazy, but I want you to… do something for me… with me…" Valerie tried again, focusing on Sam. "I've seen you in P.E. and well, you're good. You were friends with the Fentons and are familiar with ghost weaponry." Valerie turned to Tucker. "You're smart. You got the highest score on that test we took the day after Ember McLain's concert. You could use that intelligence for something."

"What are you saying?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised.

Valerie took a deep breath. "Let's face it. The Guys in White are good, but this town deserves better than them. I'm saying we should join ranks. I think you Sam could make it as a ghost hunter, and Tuck, you can supply the brains."

"You mean like a team?" Tucker asked. "Don't you think this is a little fast? One minute you don't even know we know you hunt ghosts, and the next your suggesting we form the 'Paranormal Posse' or something."

"Okay, it is quick, but this ghost attack signifies something. After the …tragedy… the ghosts seemed to lay off a while. There were a few attacks, but nothing the GIW couldn't handle. But now, the ghosts are coming back. I know they are, and we have to be ready. So- are you guys in?"

Sam looked at Tucker and back at Valerie. She didn't know quite what to say. Danny would tell her to go for it…

It was funny in a way. Danny's presence had pushed her and Valerie apart. Now his absence was pushing them together.

"I'm in, as long as it keeps this town safe. Tuck?" Sam had thought Tucker would jump at the idea, but the boy showed considerable reserve.

The technopath looked at Valerie. "You can't take Danny's place. You know that right?"

"Of course I know that! You guys' friendship was -and is- something special, and I would never try to take that from you."

Tucker looked at the two girls, and his face split into a wide grin. "Then what are we going to call ourselves? A team's gotta have a name."

Valerie smiled. "It's not going to be the 'Paranormal Posse'."

"The Ghost Getters." Sam said softly.

"What! That's almost worse."

"Sam didn't come up with it." Tucker explained quietly. "Jazz Fenton did. I know it's awful, but maybe we _could_ be the Ghost Getters, in remembrance…"

Valerie nodded in understanding. "That's a fine name. Where are we going to have our base of operations?"

"I can set up my room for it." Tucker offered.

"I don't think so Tuck." Sam said. "Last time we went there your parents wouldn't let me go home, and ended up sleeping in the same room with us. We're using my place."

"Okay then. I'm guessing you have some Fenton weapons." Valerie said. Both teens nodded. "Then tomorrow we'll gather them all up, and stock our rescourses."

The three parted ways after school, a feeling of duty heavy on them. Sam looked up at the front of her house. _"Danny, we're keeping your town safe. We'll be just fine. Just please, be okay…"_ Sam sighed and walked to her door. A sense of foreboding fell over her, but also a since of peace. Amity. Maybe it was possible after all; even after your world fell to pieces.

-----------------------------

**I spent from 10:00 PM to 4:10 AM finishing this. You guys are lucky that I love you. If this chapter's really bad, blame it on exhaustion.**


	10. The Challenge

**Here it is! Hurray for double digits! This is one of those in between chapters, that don't have much action but set the story up for something big. I needed to explore how the Titans and Danny relate to each other.**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 10: The Challenge

---------------------------

Two days.

Danny had met the Titans two days ago.

It was funny in a way. When he had drifted to sleep on that park bench, mind dejected and body bruised from the fight and all that had conspired because of it, he had been one boy against the world. Scratch that- he had been _half_ a boy against the world. And now-

Things were different.

That's not to say that Danny thought he was the same as the Titans. He couldn't let himself. He was used to thinking that the world thought he was a malevolent manifestation of pure vice. He used that to mentally push himself to be the hero they expected him not to be.

They thought he was evil incarnate. He had to prove them wrong.

Maybe that was what seemed so strange. Danny didn't have to prove the Titans wrong.

The Titans were giving Danny Phantom a chance. The Halfa wasn't used to this- he was use to the 'shoot now, ask questions never' mindset of many Ghost Hunters, including his parents. It was weird to hear the Titans debating which side of the law he stood instead of assuming he couldn't possibly have a good bone in his body (assuming ghosts have bones). Danny knew some of this was simply because he was the Titans main information source on ghosts; if he didn't tell them they were supposed to hate a ghost's lack of guts, most likely they wouldn't.

But still, Danny hoped that wasn't the only reason they were giving him a chance.

This didn't mean he was going soft. Quite the contrary.

Danny watched as Robin entered the main room as tense as ever, acutely aware that the last time he had thought he had found someone who understood him he had let his guard down, and because of that, almost lost whatever life he had left.

He wasn't going to do that again.

-----------------------------------------

Robin entered the Operations Center, immediately feeling eyes on him. He glanced at the sofa and met the piercing gaze of the blue eyed stranger. Danny immediately looked down, but not before Robin had caught a glimpse of his eyes.

What he saw startled him.

Robin had seen Danny look curious. Most of the time they seemed extremely guarded. He had seen them look attentive and distant, occasionally at the same time. But he hadn't seen them like this before. Sure they were still guarded, but they weren't empty. They held hurt. Intensity. Instinct.

Raw fear.

Danny fiddled with his bag strap, somehow feeling violated by the leader's calculating stare. "Um… hi."

Robin nodded in greeting and moved towards the kitchen. He sent a swift glance over his shoulder to find Danny staring blankly at the window in front of him.

"_What I would do to know what he's was thinking." _Robin turned away, opening the fridge. _"I didn't remember having this much meat."_

Danny was a mystery, but Robin shouldn't really expect him to be much more, at least not yet. It wasn't a big surprise Danny had secrets. He had come straight off the street for Pete's sake, and a fourteen year old homeless boy would be under question if he _didn't _have secrets.

Was Danny a runaway?

If he was it would explain how cautious he seemed.

But there could be other reasons for his chariness. When Danny had felt threatened in the park he had immediately slipped into a fighting stance, ready to defend himself. He wasn't a stranger to combat; any skilled fighter could see that just by the way he carried himself. Where had Danny learned how to fight? Why did he_ need_ to know how to fight? Robin would have counted it as something the teen had picked up from being on his own, but if Danny was telling them the truth he had only been on the streets for a few months. There wasn't enough time. So wherever Danny had come from, fighting was essential, which might give a clue to why he left.

Could Danny have been abused?

It wasn't the sort of thing Robin liked to think about, but the young leader couldn't hide from the fact that things like that happened. Of course any one who laid a hand on a boy like Danny (or any juvenile for that matter) was a low-down, despicable coward that deserved whatever demise fate decided to hand out.

Robin closed the refrigerator, his appetite gone.

He looked over to find Danny still staring into space. Had Danny moved from the sofa at all since this morning? He had seemed to shut down somewhat after Cyborg and Beastboy's customary food feud. Had the arguing gotten to him that bad? Maybe Danny's parents had argued; that would explain why it had gotten under his skin…

Robin shook his head slightly, as if to force himself to stop over analyzing the Titans living ghost manual. There wasn't really any way to know what Danny's situation was until he told them anyways.

Okay, owning a mega-computer might help, but Robin would rather Danny get it off his chest the old fashioned way. Danny wasn't the bad guy he was the victim; and he didn't need an interrogator. He needed a friend.

That didn't mean Robin wouldn't be keeping an eye out. Danny would still have to earn his and the teams trust, but right now the important thing was that Robin earn Danny's.

But then, after only two days the Titans already knew more about ghosts than the one teaching them. Robin had to do what was best for the team. Robin had to try and ask about Dannys past before simply letting the boy be. It was his duty.

---------------------------------

Danny's mind was hundreds of miles away, in a snug little town named Amity Park. There was a two hour time difference between California and Illinois. That meant it would be almost two o'clock in Amity Park; Sam and Tuck would still be at Casper High.

Danny tried to figure out if he missed high school or was glad he was gone. He didn't really have an answer. His time at Casper had been bittersweet as had his life up to this point. It was impossible to think of only the good things, or only the bad. You had to take it all at once.

Danny squirmed in his seat. He'd been sized up by enough enemies to know when he was being watched. It wasn't a very nice feeling. His eyes went to the kitchen, only to find that Robin was no longer there. _"Wow. I guess he's pretty good at stealth."_

"May I sit?"

Danny yelped, spinning to see that Robin was standing in front of him. Okay, Robin was _really_ good at stealth.

"Sure." Danny said, wondering why Robin was asking. It wasn't like Robin needed permission to sit on his own couch.

But then again, as any teenager knows, when an authority figure asks your permission for an act they don't necessarily need your permission for, they're gearing up for serious (and usually somewhat uncomfortable) discussion.

Robin sat on the opposite end of the couch, noticing Danny's hand tighten on the handle strap of his bag. "I just wanted to ask you about yesterday, something you said when you were talking to that boy."

"Jeremy?"

Robin nodded. "You said something about how a secret can poison you from the inside."

Danny didn't like where this was going.

"You said the world had too many secrets."

"It does."

"So do you."

"Can't be helped." Danny said, closing up fast.

Okay, bluntness wasn't the best approach. Robin would have to take the long way around. "What do you think of Phantom?"

Danny stomach decided to take a ride an internal roller-coaster. Robin talked about secrets and then asked what Danny thought of Phantom!? Did he know? How'd he find out-"

"_Calm down. Play it cool."_

"I-I-I-I don't know I mean, Mrs. Green got her pants scared off by him, but you guys think he might be fine, and Jeremy sure likes him-"

"I didn't ask what we thought of him," Robin said, eyebrow lifted. "I asked what _you_ thought of him."

"I-I… I don't know. It seems every time I think someone's on my side, they turn out not to be."

Concern softened Robin's features.

Danny saw the sympathy and scowled hard. He shouldn't have said that. Captain Curiosity was never going to leave him alone now. "I didn't mean that to sound like I'm pitying myself. I'm fine. I don't need to have anyone on my side, for my good and theirs." Danny's scowl deepened, feeling as if the more he talked the worse he made things.

"I'll say this." Danny said, choosing his words carefully. "If I were you I wouldn't trust any ghost until you know without a doubt where they stand."

Robin nodded."I agree, and I believe that applies to people also, not just ghosts. You won't trust Phantom until he gives you a good reason to. I don't mean any disrespect, but I can't trust you if you keep me fully in the dark either."

"You won't learn a thing about me until I know more about you guys."

"And you're not learning anything about us until we know something about you."

That could have caused an amazing amount of tension between the two, but instead both boys began smiling. The truth was that this confrontation sounded way too much like a challenge.

And if you don't know, neither Robin or Danny Fenton can back down from a challenge.

_"Then this is going to be interesting." _the teens thought simultaneously.

A green blur zipped into the room, stopping before the couch.

"Guys! It's an emergency!"

Robin stood immediately, adrenaline pumping. "What's wrong?"

"it's LUNCHTIME! And Cy butchered like a MILLION cows and stuck them in our FRIDGE!"

"I didn't kill them BB." Cyborg corrected, walking into the room. "I bought them like that."

"MURDERER! WHERES THE TOFU AND SOY MILK?"

"Where they belong. In the garbage."

Danny sighed audibly. Of all the people he could have stayed with, he had to be stuck with the ones who reminded him of the life he had left every time they had a meal.

Robin watched Danny's face as the boy slipped back into his shell.

"STOP!"

The two Titans froze, eyes on Robin. He usually didn't get involved in their disputes.

"We'll go to the city and get pizza. Cy, go get Star and I'll get Raven."

No one argued. Robin's word is law.

Beastboy seated himself beside Danny after the two other boys had left. "So, what're you doin?" Beastboy asked.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Why not? There's plenty to do here."

Danny eyed the green teen. He was sure Beastboy could find something to do, but there was one big difference between the two boys. Danny wasn't part of the group; he was just a temporary add on. He didn't want to go any where he wasn't wanted, and the places he knew he was allowed to go were the restroom, the roof, and here in the main room.

"I'd rather just stay put. If I move around I would probably get lost. This place is huge."

It was. Sam's mansion didn't even compete, bowling alley or no bowling alley.

"So, what kind of pizza do _you _like? Meat or veggie?" Beastboy repeated.

"Cheese. Why?"

"Well it's just that Cyborg likes the meat lovers, and I-"

"You wanted to get someone on your side. Sorry, I'm a dedicated omnivore."

"_Sam would have made some crack about being surprised I knew what omnivore means if she was here."_ He would have sighed, but it would draw attention to himself. Some kids did everything possible to become the center of attention. Danny would do anything to avoid it.

"That's okay." Beastboy said.

Danny waited for him to leave, but he didn't.

"Did Robin talk to you?"

"Yeah..."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. Why?" Danny asked warily.

"It's just that I happen to know that if you keep being mister-mysterious-dude Robin's going to explode."

"I don't think he's that bad-"

"Of course he's not bad, he's just really curious. He's been practically drooling since you talked to that kid; Raven too."

Danny stared at the green boy.

"What?" Beastboy asked.

"Sorry, you just didn't strike me as the observant type."

Beastboy gave his fellow couch warmer a wide grin. "Yeah, I tend to surprise people. Watch!"

Beastboy immediately began the tedious task of proving just how many animal forms he could take on in under a minute.

Raven walked into the room with Robin, a book under her arm. Danny looked up from Beastboy's fiasco and straight into a pair of- violet eyes. Sam's eyes.

It was amazing that he could be staring at his best friend in a stranger's face.

Danny turned away, chastising himself. _"Darn it Fenton, stop thinking about them! You've gone whole days without home sickness. What's different now?"_

Danny didn't know if he really wanted to answer that question._ "Am I really so weak? The first people to want me anywhere near them and I'm ready to fall apart?"_

No he wasn't. Danny clamped an iron grip onto his emotions, squelching them instantly.

Raven witnessed this whole process as well as she could from the outside. She was wearing her hood down, something she hadn't done around Danny to this point.

She watched Danny's face, a face mask itself with oblivion. But that was what it was; a mask.

It just didn't make sense. Danny had never said he knew Phantom, yet on many occasions his emotions had said it for him. When Robin had first identified Phantom as a target, Danny's heart had dropped past his stomach, his bladder, and straight into his worn out shoes. But if he did know Phantom, why didn't he defend him? It was obvious he was relieved when the Titans had cleared Phantom as a threat. Danny had been elated, or would have been if he had let himself.

If he had let himself.

That was another weird thing about Danny. He didn't _let himself _be happy. He hadn't when Cyborg enthusiastically began relaying all of the Teen Titans fights as of the present to him on the ride back from the Greene's house. Danny had found that enjoyable, but had chosen not to let himself enjoy it. He hadn't felt pleasure when he played Beastboy on the Game Station either, or when he intentionally allowed Beastboy to win a game, a gesture neither of the other Titan boys had ever considered.

That had shown kindness.

So he was distrustful, polite, kind, unhappy, and always sat so that he had a full view of the door. _"He's interesting, I'll give him that." _Raven thought. No one acquired Danny's abnormal personality traits normally. Something had happened to make him act like this... Raven could feel it. Something dark. And she agreed with Robin on this one; he wasn't going to come right out and tell them what it was.

He was a puzzle, a riddle; one Raven wasn't all too sure she wanted to solve.

"Hey!" Beastboy (now in human form) said. "I bet you want me to surprise YOU too huh?"

Raven gave him a I'm-way-past-tolerance look and turned to Danny. "Actually I wanted to talk to you before we leave."

Danny's eyes widened. Raven lifted an eyebrow.

"It's just about a book."

Danny calmed, feeling slightly foolish. None of the Titans knew anything about him, they just wanted him to do what he came here to do.

"Yeah, sure. What book?"

Raven floated towards him, holding out a brown volume. "I found this at a book store. I want to know if it's a farce."

Danny took the book, letting it open in his lap. Beastboy leaned over Danny's shoulder to get a better look. An illustration covered the top half of the page.

"It's a book about a glove?"

"Freakshow's book." Danny whispered.

"Whose Freakshow?" Beastboy asked, head cocked to the side.

"The author." Danny explained distractedly as he flipped through the pages.

"The author's name is Fredic Isak Showinghower, not Freakshow." Raven informed the boy.

Danny looked up, aware that he had said more than he should have. "Right! Sorry, wrong book I guess." Danny looked back at the pages. "These are all ghostly artifacts. The Reality Guantlet was destroyed, but it's very possible that the other objects are out there somewhere."

"Oh, friend Cyborg has informed me that we will all be attending the Place Of Pizza with our new friend!" Starfire relayed with unmatched inthusiasm, prancing through the air around the sofa.

"Thats right Star. Lets move out."

--------------------------------------

The pizza was good. But who ever heard of pizza not being good? The Beastboy and Cyborg had forgone their usual argument much to the suprise of those who worked at the pizza place. Robin had talked to them before they had left the tower.

The Titans talked comfortably, and Danny sat his bag strap still over one shoulder as he ate. As he listened, the the Titans he ran one finger over the seams, relaxed for once. That is until the questions started.

"So were do you come from exactly?" Cyborg asked, his tone friendly.

Hadn't Danny already answered that one? "Far away."

"Exactly how far away?"

"Um... East?"

Raven sighed. "We're in California. Pretty much every thing's east."

Danny couldn't keep a small smile off of his face. She sounded like Sam... _"Ugh! I already went over this! STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM!__"_

"Anything more specific?" Cyborg asked.

Danny had the feeling he wasn't going to win this one. "I-I'd rather not."

"That's fine." Beastboy said. "We would just like to know a little bit more about you."

Danny saw Robin smile slightly, indicating that the unspoken challenge was still in play.

"All you need to know is that I didn't do anything illegal. I'm not a thief or anything. I really don't like thieves. They're almost as bad as cheaters."

"How are cheaters worse than thieves?" Beastboy asked.

"I'd... rather not explain that either."

"Friend, I must know; why are you not with those close to you? Were are your family and your friends?" Starfire asked.

_"Got you."_Robin thought. Danny might be able to side step his questions, Cyborg's mild curiosity and Beasboy's persistant inquiries, but the day someone was able to leave one of Starfire's questions unansered all hell would break loose.

Or something else that hadn't happened to the Titans already.

"That depends on what you mean by friend." Danny said, fiddling with his straw. "Do you mean really close friends or just people who your friendly to and are friendly back?"

"I mean friends such as I have here. The friends who will not leave me in the dispair of moments and are always there when they are needed by me."

"You care alot about your friends don't you?"

"Oh yes! My life cannot be imagined without them. I enjoy being a Teen Titan very much. It is quite... nice."

It wasn't until Danny's eyes met Robin's that the Titan leader realized that this blue eyed boy had just quickly and skillfully turned the attention from himself and back onto the team.

This kid was good.

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**Robin and Danny are quite competitive aren't they? I like this chapter now much more than I did at first. It was fun. As always, THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO REVIEWED!! YOU'RE AWESOME!**


	11. Comes Crashing Down Part 1

**Here it is, chapter 11. Sorry about the wait, I really am. I will say this once... I REFUSE TO STOP WRITING THIS so don't give up on me.**

**Okay, down to business. First, this story now has Fan Art thanks to hurlebibi! The link is in my profile. Hurlebibi, you are AWESOME!****  
****Second, this chapter and the next were derived from something Waterdog helped me with. She helped me allot with the plot. So... DEDICATED TO YOU WATERDOG!****  
****Third: DISCLAIMER! I don't own Teen Titans or Danny Phantom.**

**On with the show!**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 11: Comes Crashing Down, Part 1

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Danny was comfortable, more so than he would let himself admit. His stomach was full, his heart on the verge of contentment, and his mind relaxed. He watched the wairess carry away the empty pizza plates, fighting the urge to let down his guard completely.

"I have never seen a one of these chickens you speak of cross the road." Starfire said, confused.

"They don't Star." Robin explained.

"Then why did Beastboy say-"

"It was just a joke." Beastboy said. "Look. If you don't get it you're just supposed to laugh anyways. Alright?"

Danny placed both elbows on the table thinking.

"So Danny, where did you learn about ghosts anyways?" Robin asked.

Danny let his forehead descend, his slightly tanned arms forming a wall around his head. "Internet." Danny mumbled into the table. He was tired of the questions, and right now didn't care if the rest of the world knew that.

"You're a terrible liar." Raven deadpanned.

"I know." Danny said, lifting his head so that he could see the Titan sitting across from him. "I'm better than I used to be though. Back then I could have won an award for how bad of a liar I was."

"What changed?" Robin asked.

"_I learned how to cover for myself so that I wouldn't get blown to pieces by my parents."_

"I got older I guess." Danny answered. The teen sat silent for a moment, evaluating the team's reaction to his words. He had to be careful about giving out to much info.

A familiar beeping drew the Titan's attention.

"Trouble." Robin said, opening his communicator. His tone was determined and serious. "Beastboy stay here with Danny, we'll-"

"No way! I want to come too!" Beastboy whined.

"Sorry Beastboy, but we need-"

Danny felt helpless. He didn't belong here, in the midst of a team of people bound together by a common goal.

"Let him go." He said, interrupting Robin. "I don't need a four foot tall babysitter."

"I'm taller than four feet!"

Danny stared at the mask that Robin wore, and could feel those hidden eyes staring right back.

Robin scowled. He didn't have time for this. Danny had no ties to the Titans. If they all left it was very possible they would never see Danny again, therefore loosing their edge on the ghost enemy.

"If it bothers you, consider him a parole officer instead of a babysitter." Robin growled. He wasn't letting anything get in the way of his job. Someone was in trouble.

"Titans move out."

Beastboy and Danny stood watching as the rest of the Titans ran for the door.

"He didn't mean that." Beastboy stated.

"Mean what?"

"That thing about the parole officer."

"Don't worry Beastboy, That didn't bother me." It hadn't. Danny didn't have much say in the way Robin ran things, and it was okay if Robin didn't trust him. It wasn't like Danny had given him reason to.

"You can call me BB if you want." Beastboy offered.

"Err… Thanks." Danny didn't think he was comfortable enough to start calling the team by their given nicknames yet. Suddenly the half-ghost gasped, a chilling blue wisp emitting from his mouth. "I think I'm going to go to the restroom." He said, hurrying away.

Beastboy sighed and pressed his face to the window, watching his friends hurry away. He was alone.

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"You didn't have to be that harsh." Cyborg stated as he ran towards the T Car.

Robin scowled. "I know." He mumbled. He had been getting closer to the mystery that was Danny and now he'd probably blown any chance at learning anything about Danny in the near future. He straddled the R Cycle.

"Actually, Danny didn't mind." Raven said, gliding through the air above the two boys.

"How could he not mind? Wonder Boy over there just compared him to a criminal!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Raven's voice held its usual lack of inflect. "He understood what Robin meant and accepted it. He's not trying to be trouble; he's trying to blend in. I doubt he will make a stand about anything as minimal as what term Robin uses to describe him."

Above the trio Starfire gasped. "Friends," She called down to the group below her. "Who is the girl that walks toward us?"

"What girl?" Robin demanded.

Then he saw her. She strode through the street as if she owned it, stopping about fifty feet from the team. She was about their age, with blue eyes that gave off an unnatural shine as they traveled over team. She wore a one strap black shirt, and chains dangled from her belt. The girl's blue hair rose as a flame would as she place one hand on the neck of the electric guitar hanging from her shoulder and placed the other hand on her hip.

"Where is he?" She demanded. The Titans looked at each other.

"Who?" Cyborg asked.

The girl's fingers slammed into the guitar strings, causing a pink fist of energy to come at the heroes. The team reacted on pure reflex, Robin diving to the right, Cyborg to the left, and the girls shooting into the sky. The fist made contact with the restaurant behind them, shattering the window glass.

"Where is the dipstick that dared to touch Skulker?" The girl yelled, her hair flaming dangerously.

Robin righted himself. "Titans! GO!" he yelled, tossing a disk at the girl, freezing her in place. There was no need. the ice worked. The Titans gathered around the hunk of ice standing in the middle of the street, the pale face frozen in shock, the flaming head quenched.

If only it had lasted.

Suddenly the Titans weren't looking _at_ the strange girl; they were looking _through_ her. The now intangible being passed through the ice, becoming tangible above her former prison. Her eyes flashed as her skull boots made contact with the ice.

"You're really gonna regret that Freeze Boy." She snarled, the blue flames on her head reaching for the sky.

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Beastboy had seen the attack from the booth. With a yelp he transformed into a turtle as the pink energy shattered the window. He had morphed into a hawk the instant the glass had stopped falling, and flew away from the booth further into the building. Beastboy saw the restroom looming ahead of him and morphing back into his human form yelled, "DANNY! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

No answer.

A green rhinoceros crashed through the bathroom wall, shrinking back to a boy in the wink of an eye. Quickly Beastboy checked the stalls, but each time he pushed one open he found it empty.

Danny wasn't there.

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Outside the battle was underway. The phasing ability the girl had shone had identified her as a ghost in the teams mind. Knowing that didn't necessarily help their odds, but it was always good to know what you were fighting.

"Hey Elvis! Over here!" Cyborg yelled, blasting at the ghost. The girl let out a roar as she strummed her guitar, raining visible sound waves on the large teen. Something smacked her on the head, exploding upon impact. It threw the enraged guitarist off of her ice pedestal and onto the ground. She leapt up, shooting into the sky and looking down at the two boys. Wait; if the boys were there where were…

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"

The guitarist's hand was already on her strings as she spun towards the cry. She let the power loose at the car speeding through the air and the sound waves threw the vehicle back at the one who had commanded it. Raven narrowed her eyes, phasing through the vehicle and turned back to the ghostly punk rocker.

The glowing blue eyes widened as the specter realized that this girl had just passed _through_ the car. "You're a ghost?" She asked, shocked.

"Not quite." Raven said, lifting a glowing hand. The ghost girl's eyes narrowed as she poised herself for another attack. "So what? Are you another Halfa or something?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "And a Halfa is…"

"That's for me to know, and you to-"

Raven pulled her hand forward causing a montage of inanimate objects to go soaring towards the girl with the guitar. The ghost sidestepped and phased alternately, a wicked smile playing on her lips as she danced through the items.

"Enough of this Miss Darkness." The girl placed one hand on a dial on the guitar and turned it, sneering. "Let's play."

But before she could touch the strings something smacked into her back, the second time she had been assaulted from behind during this fight. The girl turned, her ponytail flaming up as she growled at the originator of the attack; a red head, hands green with fury.

"You will not touch my friends!" Starfire shouted as loudly as she could. A blur of green star bolts filled the air as the battle continued.

Below Robin watched the war being waged in the air. He watched as the ghost caused herself to become intangible. he watched as the starbolts passed through her. He watched the star bolts that missed, the shots that pelted the building behind the ghost. It was the same building the Titans had eaten in, the same building that currently housed one of his friends and one boy he was responsible for.

"STARFIRE!"

Star looked down in surprise, which quickly turned to horror as she noticed the leaning pizza place behind her enemy. Unfortunately the ghost noticed this too.

"Awe, are you afraid this dump will come falling down?" She mocked. Unbidden anger coursed through the ghost's veins as her fiery hair rocketed towards the sky.

"Let's give it some help shall we?"

Her hair grew as she fueled it. It dropped down towards the ground like a flaming waterfall, towards the leaning building.

"Get her out of the sky!" Robin yelled, throwing freeze disks whenever he could find an opening.

Raven and Starfire closed in on the ghost, trying to wrestle her to the ground.

Starfire gave a cry and backed up, holding a burnt hand to her mouth. The intensity was to much; it wasn't normal fire either. It was worse.

Raven had better luck. She created a black shield, using her powers to slam into the girl. The ghost cried out as she fell to the ground.

Yet even in this small victory there was defeat, for the blow dealt to the structure had already taken its toll. Robin watched as the frame creaked.

The building was unstable. It was burning an angry blue fire.

It was going to come down.

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"DANNY!" Beastboy yelled for the umpteenth time. He checked the stalls again, feeling the vibrations as the building shook under his feet. He spotted something on the floor, but it wasn't Danny. It was Danny's bag. Beastboy grabbed it, slinging the strap over his shoulder. Danny would never have left this bag unless something bad had happened. Where had he-

Beastboy's thoughts were interrupted by a faint beeping. The sound was almost drowned out by the rattle of the building frame as the structure took another blow. A piece of ceiling almost caught Beasboy on the side of the head as he popped his communicator open.

"BEASTBOY!" Robin nearly screamed through the devise. "GET OUT OF THERE NOW, I REPEAT, GET OUT OF THAT BUILDING _NOW_!"

"Robin, I can't find Danny! It's like he just dissa-" Beastboy cut off, coughing because of the smoke. Wait smoke? Since when was there smoke?

A crack rang through the air and Beastboy looked up, his ears falling flat against his head. There was no time to move, no time to morph. The shape shifter could only watch as a flaming center beam bore down on him. In that one second his legs turned to jello, his reflexes went dormant, and his mind stopped working. All he could do was watch and wait to feel the flames as they reached for him. Beastboy could faintly hear Robin calling his name as the communicator dropped from his fingers.

He closed his eyes.

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**This seemed sort of choppy to me... hope it was just me being a picky author... THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! Stay tuned for part 2!**


	12. Comes Crashing Down Part 2

**Back by popular request… and a couple threats… (cough-Waterdog-cough)**

**PART 2! Just to say, part of the reason I took so long last time was because I wrote all of this, and found out I was looking at a 7000 word document, and had to cut it in two. Sorry about the cliff hanger, I honestly couldn't find another place to cut it.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I had created Teen Titans or Danny Phantom I would have made a television crossover already (don't know if that's possible with the different animation styles, but still, how awesome would THAT be?).**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 12: Comes Crashing Down Part 2

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Phantom had made quick time emptying the pizza place of its occupants. He returned to the restaurant part of the building as the battle outside caused the building to shake. Phantom didn't know how much more of this the pizza place could endure. He watched in awe as smoke filled the room he was standing in. This wasn't normal fire- it couldn't have spread this fast. Reluctantly Danny let his lungs stop pumping air into his dead being, Silently thanking his stars he had gotten everyone out.

"DANNY!"

Phantom turned, shocked. He knew that voice-

"_Beastboy! I'm so stupid! Of course he wouldn't leave if he thought I was still in here!"_

Phantom took off towards the voice.

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Some people say your life flashes before your eyes before you die. Some believe you see everything in slow motion. Beastboy didn't do either of these, seeing his eyes were squeezed shut in anticipation for the flaming piece of roof that was to be his end. Was this how he was to die? Alone in a burning fire?

Beastboy did feel something, but it wasn't the fire's burning wrath that grabbed a hold of both of his arms. It was something completely and eerily cold, followed by a strange sensation in his stomach. _"Wait,"_Beastboy thought. _"That's not right. It's not supposed to be cold… unless you feel cold when you're dead."_ Was he dead already? He hadn't even felt the log.

Creaks and snaps filled his sensitive ears and he clamped his eyes shut even tighter against the noise.

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After a series of cracks and pops the building came crumbling down in a pile of burning rubble.

"_BEASTBOY!"_ Robin yelled into the static filled communicator. The Boy Wonder took off towards the pizza place in a dead run.

A blast of ghost energy slammed into the leader's side, throwing Robin across the pavement like a flat rock across water.

Maniacal laughter met his ears as he lifted his head off the ground.

"They don't call me Ember for nothing." the ghost hissed.

Parked cars, fire hydrants and street signs exploded in black power as Raven stared at the burning structure. The empathy turned her eyes to the offending spirit, and if looks could kill it wouldn't have mattered that the ghostly musician was already dead. Cyborg's canon whined as he leveled his sights on Ember, anger filling his being. Starfire screamed in fury as a green glow began to radiate from her.

There would be no mercy.

Not today.

Not after…

Raven raised her hands, fully intending to teach this murderer the meaning of slow and painful death (again) when something caught her eye. She gasped as she realized what she was seeing.

"Robin, look!"

The Boy Wonder turned his head to see what Raven was talking about, his face showing his shock.

One by one the other teens followed suit, first Starfire, then Ember, and finally Cyborg.

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Beastboy kept his eyes shut for awhile, afraid of what he would find when he opened them. He was becoming more and more convinced that he was in fact dead. Living people didn't feel this chill running through him. Living people didn't float… wait a sec; he was _floating_? Since when was he floating?

Finally snapping open his eyes, Beast Boy found himself suspended in mid air. Gazing in wonder, the changeling realized he was high above the fire that was consuming the pizza place. A quick scan showed all of his teammates standing in the street around a stranger (was her hair seriously burning?), gazing up at him in shock. But if he was dead and stuff, wasn't that suppose to mean they couldn't see him?

It was then that Beastboy realized someone was holding him.

Twisting around he found himself face to face with another kid who seemed to be about his age. Neon green eyes stared back into his, interrupted only by large locks of snow white hair. A satisfied smirk played out on the boy's unusually pale skin.

Beast Boy's eyes widened in realization, "I know you! You're that thief!"

Phantom frowned.

Beastboy shook his head. "Wait, no. Not a thief thief, just the thief that wasn't a thief that we thought was a thief until-"

A blast of pink ecto energy knocked the two heroes out of the sky. Phantom eyed the ground and then turned to Beastboy, whose arm he was still gripping. "You can morph right?"

As an answer Beastboy took the form of a Pterodactyl, the strap of Danny's bag becoming muck tighter around his chest. Phantom let go of the shape shifter and pressed his hands to his sides, speeding towards the ground. He felt the wind, the adrenaline, the power for all it was worth. At the last available moment he willed himself intangible, passing right through the ground which threatened to stop him.

-----------------------------------------------

It was amazing, a miracle. It shouldn't have happened, there was no way anyone could have planned for it to happen, but it had happened anyway. Some stranger that Robin knew next to nothing about had just saved one of his friend's lives. The young detective snapped back to reality, his anger against Ember rekindled.

Ember herself was watching the ground warily. She'd fought Phantom before, and knew the one thing you always had to do when facing the hybrid.

Watch your back.

All of a sudden a hail storm of explosions interrupted Ember's search. She immediately became intangible, allowing the disks to pass through her. These humans were no match for her.

After the number of disks diminished somewhat Ember caused her body to regain its original semi-solidity and pulled her fingers across the strings once more, a pink fist slammed against the ground as she attempted to squash the pesky masked boy.

"Die why don't you!" She yelled.

This took her mind off of Phantom for just a second.

And a second was all Phantom needed.

He came bursting out of the ground, turning solid as soon as he exited the street. With a growl he plowed his fist into Ember's jaw, forcing her back. She landed on her back in the street. Phantom dropped down on top of her, his boot digging into her stomach. Ember's eyes went to her guitar which had fallen a few feet away from her. She reached out in an attempt to grasp it, but her wrist was rudely grasped by a white gloved hand before she had snagged it. She looked up, her face tinted a soft green by the light that shown from Phantom's eyes.

"I take it you've given up on baby sitting." Phantom said. His tone was light, almost playful, but as Ember looked into those green eyes she realized she was staring at a seriously ticked Ghost Boy. Logically she had a better chance of completing her objective if she retreated and returned later.

To bad she was way beyond logic.

"YOU!" She screamed, throwing Phantom off of her. She made a wild lunge for her guitar and caught the neck in her left hand.

Now smiling, she turned to find Phantom rocketing towards her. She brushed the guitar strings, sending her powerful sound waves at the boy. Phantom swiftly spun to the side, putting distance between himself and the powerful serge of sound. Another attach, then another, then another…

"_Why is Ember so furious anyways?"_ he thought.

"Where is he dipstick? What have you done with him?" Ember demanded. One of her attacks finally landed, slamming Phantom into a building.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The ghost boy stated as his head cleared.

"Of course you do. Plasmius ordered Skulker to mess with you, get you all worked up. That's the last I saw of him. So I will ask you again…" Another blast sent Phantom into the front of a car. He groaned and slipped through the ground.

"WHERE is SKULKER!"

"Hey, settle down!" Phantom said, rising slowly from the ground behind the guitarist. "We fought a few days ago. He pulled a cheap shot and left. He must just be somewhere in the Ghost Zone. Now why don't we just stop and take a breath-"

"I don't breathe Baby Pops! Neither do you last time I checked, unless that's another thing that characterizes you as a freak."

Phantom snorted. "You should talk about freaks."

Ember let out a yell as she sent another volley of guitar originated blasts Phantom's way.

Robin, who had been watching the combat, decided it was time to act. "Cyborg!" He yelled. He grinned when he saw Cyborg turn towards him. "Wanna give that ghost the Sonic Boom?"

Cyborg mirrored Robin's smile. "I got the sonic..."

"And I got the boom." Robin answered.

-----------------------------------------------

Phantom shot into the air, his white hair pressing against his head. "I tried the easy way." He muttered. "Now it's my turn to do the hitting." Phantom let loose, his green disks of energy pounding down on the musical ghost. To her credit Ember dodged most of them. But not all of them.

Behind her the two Titans were getting ready for another attack. Robin and Cyborg ran forward, their feet hitting the ground rhythmically. Both faces held the confidence gained by years of practice and total trust in the teammate running beside them. This would work.

Ember didn't see them, she was to busy dodging the ghost boy's attack, but the ghost boy in question did see the Titan's antics. _"What are they doing?"_

It took about five seconds for Phantom to find out.

BOOM!

The light and dust emitted from the explosion was enough to make Phantom cover his face, even at the high altitude. He shook his head and looked around. The Titans stood and floated, all five pairs of eyes glued to the spot Ember had been.

Had been.

She was there no longer.

"Miss me dipstick?"

Phantom turned around to get his face smashed by the body of Ember's guitar. He was sent spinning through the air, gaining his air feet just in time to dodge another attack. Ember swung the guitar like a sword, connecting with Phantom's back, causing him to grunt in pain.

----------------------------------------------------------

Beastboy slipped into his human form, Danny's bag slipping from his small shoulders. The changeling winced as the bag thudded to the ground.

"_I sure hope Danny doesn't have anything breakable in that thing."_

The bag fell over, the flap that closed it falling open and allowing something shaped in a cylinder to roll out.

"A Thermos?" Beastboy muttered.

--------------------------------------------------------

Phantom shot forward once again, swerving around the guitar as Ember continued to use it like a sword. He grasped the guitar strap, and yanked hard, braking Ember's hold on the instrument. Phantom let it fall towards the ground and latched on to Ember's hands, the two ghosts pushing against one another, strong spirit against strong spirit.

"You won't win." Ember said, her voice mocking. "You throw us into the Ghost Zone, we come back. You protect the humans, but eventually they will all die. Even now you are surrounded. Pole Portals have been set up all over Jump City. You think you ran here? Hah! You were _herded _here by Plasmius! You think you're so high," Ember said, pushing Phantom back. "But you're young Baby Pops. You haven't realized yet that the higher up you are," The pop ghost bent her wrists forward, subsequently bending Phantoms backwards, causing him to grunt in pain. "The farther you have to fall." Another twist and Phantom was almost on his knees in the air.

_"She's getting stronger. I need a plan." _He thought frantically. _"A plan a plan a plan..."_

-------------------------------------------------------

Beastboy picked the soup container up, examining the strange container in his hands, turning it over and running his fingers over the picture of a ghost with an F inside (What does the F stand for?). This contraption did something; it had a button. Since when did a thermos have a button? What did it do? Beastboy's inquisitive gaze bored into that button, and out of curiosity he pressed it. He shrieked as a large, familiar looking beam of light shot out of the top of the contraption.

"HEY! WHOSE BEEN MESSIN' WITH MY TECH!" Cyborg bellowed.

------------------------------------------------------

Phantom saw the familiar light of the Fenton Thermos behind his enemy. He didn't have time to wonder how the thermos had been activated; he had one moment to act and he took it. Phantom bent his elbows, allowing the startled ghost to fall forward. To steady herself Ember was forced to let go of Phantom's hands; but Phantom didn't let go of hers. Instead he used the one moment to bend Ember's arm behind her, holding her head in a head lock.

"It's not about falling." He said. Phantom gave her a mighty push, and she tumbled into the beam of light, screaming as she was pulled down into the depths of the container.

"It's about getting back up." Phantom finished.

Beastboy stared in shock at the cylinder in his hands as the light dissipated. He lowered down to the ground the rest of the team gathered around him.

"Beastboy!" Robin asked, running up to the teen. "Are you alright?"

"Uh… what was that?" Beastboy asked, placing the thermos in the leader's hands.

Phantom thought this would be a good time to intervene. It wasn't like he could leave without the thermos anyways. He let himself drop towards the ground. "Um, hi."

The Team turned to face him as he landed. He made a motion towards the thermos. "It's like a prison for ghosts. Ember's stuck in there until I return her to her home dimension. It doesn't hurt her."

"After she that stunt she pulled I wouldn't mind if it hurt her." Raven growled.

Phantom smiled at the comment and cocked his head to the side. "Thanks for the help by the way."

The Ghost Boy mentally smacked himself. What was he doing? Making small talk? He just needed to get the thermos and leave. The longer he stayed here the better chance the Titans had at figuring it out.

"Dude, I should be thanking you. I mean you kept my butt from getting fried back there." Beastboy said. Phantom's iridescent eyes scanned the ashes that used to be a pizza joint.

"I should have gotten here sooner." He muttered, more to himself than the Titans.

Robin eyed the boy in front of him. He had seen this being on a TV screen, but this was much different, seeing the ghost face to face. Phantom stood here real and tangible (at the time), and full of things a photo could never capture. One of these things was his eyes.

Robin knew a thing or two about eyes. Eyes were the window to the soul. This boy's were like windows into a whole other world.

Phantom turned those eyes back to the thermos. "Um, I'd love to stay and chat, but can I just take the thermos and leave?"

"Wait, the thermos fell out of Danny's bag. It's his." Beastboy said.

That caught Robin's attention. "That thing was _Danny's_?"

"It's alright, I got Danny out of there." Phantom said quickly. "If you give me his stuff I can return it to him."

Robin's counterpace suddenly became very dangerous. "How did you know who we were talking about?" He demanded icily.

Any color in the ghosts face instantly dissipated.

This was seriously bad news.

Raven spoke up. "He knows you doesn't he?" It wasn't a question. Phantom answered anyways.

"No! Of course not! I just- when he- before I-"

Phantom sighed. There was no way to fix this. He had to go with plan B: act like he and Danny were friends. JUST friends, not the SAME.

"Look. Danny's… complicated. He has secrets, and I'm one of them."

"_Whoa, back up, back up. That was way to close to the truth."_

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, his defenses still up.

"I mean unless someone wants the government on their tails they don't let on that they know me."

"What does the government have against you?" Robin shot at the ghost. He didn't care if the being winced at the intensity in his words. He had thought this guy and the Titan's were on the same side of the law, but this didn't sound like it. "If you haven't realized, we're employed by the government. If tey're after you, we are too."

Phantom resisted the urge to shake his head at Robin's naivety. Was this kid for real?

"GIV, top secret government program." Phantom said, his voice harder than he had intended. "Look it up. You'll find that not every government employee shares your morals. Not that anything they do to me could be considered wrong," Phantom said, not completely successful in keeping the bitterness out of his voice, "Seeing I'm not human. Sometimes it's angering. They forget that I _use _to be…"

What the heck was he saying? It was true and all, but he shouldn't be telling the TITANS this!

If anything it softened Robins face somewhat. Cyborg's expression was unreadable, not because of lack of emotion, but a little to much of it.

Starfire folded her hands together, feeling sympathy for Phantom with all her heart.

Beastboy understood too. He knew what it felt like to loose humanity…

Even Raven's face showed understanding.

"Now, could I take the thermos so that I can send Ember back to the place she came from? I'll take Danny's stuff too… I'll have to find him to give the thermos back anyways, and I don't think he would appreciate you going through his things while he's gone."

Robin held out the thermos, realizing he held the technology needed to capture Phantom in his hands. Why didn't he? Maybe because what Phantom said was true; Robin knew not all law enforcement agents were what they portrayed themselves to be. He would let Phantom off this one time, at least until he had better information.

Phantom almost sighed in relief as he took hold of the gadget, but this relief turned to upset when Robin didn't let go. "How do we know Danny's not going to just run off as soon as he gets this? We need his help- I can't take the chance that he will leave."

"Danny will come back. Look, I'm not asking you to trust me, but I am telling the truth. Danny wont leave you guys if his help can prevent bad things happening to good people. You might not see it, but He doesn't want anyone getting hurt."

Robin let the thermos go. Beastboy stepped forward and handed Phantom the rest of Danny's things. The ghost turned to leave, but before he could the shadow of a cloaked figure fell across him. Phantom looked up, meeting Raven's purple eyes with his own.

It sent a shock through Raven's being when she looked into those eyes. They seemed so alive, yet so dead at the same time. This ghost was nothing like the ones she had faced in the past.

"What is a Halfa?" She demanded. Raven was not known for being subtle.

The light unnatural green eyes widened. So he did know what that meant.

"Where'd you hear about Halfas?"

Raven frowned. "Ember. What is it?"

Phantom sighed. The quicker he could leave, the better it would be. "Me pretty much."

He flew around Raven, only to be stopped by a wall of blackness. "So then," Raven asked, "What are you?"

Phantom half turned, a humor-free smile on his lips. "I'd rather not say. If you knew what I really am... You wouldn't want me around."

Deja vu.

Phantom rocketed through the air leaving the Teen Titans with a horde of unanswered questions.

Raven turned to Robin after the ghost had departed. "What do you think?"

Robin didn't answer until the last wisp of Phantom's spectral tail had left the sky. "He doesn't know where he belongs. "

"Do we know where he belongs? " Cyborg asked.

"No. I know the facts state otherwise but I seriously doubt it's behind bars."

The Titans watched their leader. This wasn't like him.

"I don't know…" Robin mused. "He just seems so… lost."

--------------------------------------------

Danny sat, his back against the door to Titan's tower. His blue eyes lifted as the T car approached. He waited, his head resting against the Tower, his bag across his lap. He watched Robin's steel toed boots as the Boy Wonder walked towards him. He lifted his head, squinting at Robin's stern face.

"We need to talk." The masked hero said sternly.

"I know." Danny replied. "You have every right to be mad, it's just-"

"I'm not mad Danny. Just disappointed."

The words stung but Danny didn't say anything. He deserved this for letting so much slip.

Danny nodded. There was no way he was telling them everything, but he could tell them some. They deserved it.

"Okay. Lets talk."

-------------------------------------------

**I know, I know, that's sort of a cliffie too. I didn't mean to leave you hanging again, but I've already written about 4000 words in this one. Thank's to everyone who reviewed, I hope this appeases you. Also, CONGRATS TO DGIRL101, OFFICAL 100TH REVIEWER!**


	13. Always a Reason

Strong Enough (a Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 13: Always a Reason

-----------------------------------

The heavy silence hanging over the Titan Tower operation center was almost worse than the questions Danny knew were coming. He watched the sober expressions the Teen Titans' faces wore, realizing that these weren't just the Teen Titans. They were people. People Danny had hurt.

"Danny." Robin began. His voice was harder than it had been earlier that day, but still softer than the one he had used when speaking to Danny in ghost form. "Why didn't you tell us that you knew Phantom?"

"I... couldn't tell you. It wasn't a possibility, even if I had wanted to."

"Did Phantom tell you not to say anything, the same as when he helped Jeremy Greene?"

Danny waited a moment, and then nodded slightly. "You could say that, in a way. Real secrets are the ones you're never asked to keep. A true secret is the one you keep simply because you know what will happen if you don't, and you'd rather be silent than see people hurt."

Cyborg spoke next. "Are you saying if someone learned too much about Phantom he'd make sure-"

"NO! That's not what I meant." Danny said hurriedly. "Phantom would never hurt someone because they knew too much. Even if you don't know it he's on your side in every way that counts. The thing is just because he has a conscience doesn't mean his enemies do."

Robin nodded. That made sense. "And so you keep Phantom's secrets."

"Yes."

"And he keeps yours in return?" Robin ventured.

"Yeah, I guess." Danny said quietly.

"Then we need to get one thing straight." The leader said. "I'm not trying to make you betray Phantom, but lies will not be tolerated. If there's ever something Phantom wouldn't want you to tell us let me know and we'll skip it, but don't lie to me."

Robin frowned at the surprise in the boy's eyes.

"So you're just going to pass anything I don't want to talk about, no questions asked?" Danny inquired, the surprise on his face transferring to his voice.

Robin nodded. "I understand that Phantom's secrets aren't yours to give, which is probably why you played dumb in the first place."

"I wish it were that simple." Danny stated sincerely. "If it helps any, there are only two other people in the world who know what I do about Phantom and neither to the same extent. Well, there were three but one of them-"

Danny stopped. He looked down. "What I'm trying to say is Phantom's sort of picky about his friends. People don't know much of anything about him, for his safety and theirs. You're not the first to be left out in the dark."

"Well then, would you care to shed some light?"

Danny nodded, his mind quickly calculating exactly how much he was going to tell the Titans. "What do you want to know?"

"First off, Phantom used a piece of technology to capture a ghost named Ember."

Danny looked at the bag on his lap and after a moment of hesitation drew the thermos out. He stared at the cylinder, noticing how natural it seemed to be holding the weapon. It had been dishearteningly easy to find a portal to dump Ember through. If Danny had found one in a matter of minutes who knows how many were being set up all over the large city? He looked back at Robin, waiting for him to finish the question.

"Were did it come from, and why do you have it?"

"Someone I know -knew- made it and it was given to me."

"_Sam did give this one to me so that's not a lie. The rest were destroyed in the explosion and she already had one. I hope she hasn't needed it."_ With that thought Danny discovered a bright side to the ghosts flocking to Jump City. If all the malevolent spirits were in California they wouldn't be in Amity Park. Even though this thought was somewhat morose, it did serve to lighten the weight that had been resting on Danny's shoulders since he had left his town.

"And I'm guessing this person was how you first met Phantom, seeing the ghost is obviously familiar with the technology."

Danny almost laughed. Robin didn't know how right he was. "Yeah. Phantom had known the other person for a long time."

"A long time." Beastboy repeated. "As in before Phantom… um…"

"Died." Raven finished. All eyes went to her. "What? Death is a reality. You can't hide the facts no matter how bad they sound." She said bluntly.

Danny sighed. "Yes." He said quietly. "They knew each other before Phantom died."

"Did you know Phantom before he became a ghost?" Robin asked gently.

Danny looked down at the thermos once again. "I'd rather not say."

"_That's a yes."_ A shadow seemed to fall over the room at the meaning in what Danny _hadn't_ said. There was much more to this friendship than the Titans had first thought.

"Danny, I need to know something." Robin waited for the boy to look at him. "Do you trust him?"

The question shocked Danny much more than it should have. It should have been an easy question to answer, one that could have been deemed unnecessary. Danny was supposed to be Phantom's friend right? And friends trusted each other. But still…

_Don't lie to me._

And looking at the mask that hid Robin's eyes…

Danny couldn't.

"I don't know." Danny said, his voice cracking. "I used to, but now…"

Danny placed his hand on his head trying desperately to get his thoughts together. "I trust him to try to do the right thing. I trust him to fight with everything in him. I trust him with my life; but the lives of others, the lives of the people I care about? I just don't know anymore."

The room was completely silent.

"Don't get me wrong, like I said earlier Phantom would never hurt anyone on purpose; he made his choice a long time ago and he plans on sticking to it, it's just… I _know_ things about him. Sometimes I wonder… if he ever really had a choice to begin with."

"Danny." Robin said. "Everyone has a choice."

Danny had heard that before. Danny had heard Sam say it, Jazz say it, heck even _he_ said it, but not because he believed it. He said it because pretending that his destiny hinged on a choice, not mere circumstances kept him hoping, fighting, _living_ in a sense.

"You don't know how much I want that to be true." Danny said fervently.

--------------Amity Park, Illinois-----------------------

"Computer on."

The monitor lit up a lime green as it was activated. The glow given off by the display illuminated the man who had issued the order. His posture and air told of someone who was used to the high life, and he was. His name was Vladimir Masters, a businessman at the top of his game. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His black suit was neat and his gray-white hair was held back in a neat pony tail. He looked the model of any man leading the high life; all but his eyes. His eyes held something more than the cunning ruthlessness of a good businessman.

They held the cunning ruthlessness of a criminal.

"Download file 17-9-8-8-JX." Mr. Masters commanded.

A picture came into view, showing the all too recognizable Danny Phantom being thrown into a wall, a small boy clasped to his chest.

"Stop."

The image paused showing the exact moment the ghostly youth's back made contact with the wall. The pale face was drawn in pain, the ethereal eyes squeezed shut.

Vlad studied the expression for only a moment before continuing.

"Download next file, file 17-9-8-9-JY."

A picture showed on the screen of a black haired boy, lying on a park bench, his hand behind his head.

"Stop."

The image froze showing the teen's brooding blue eyes looking towards the sky, oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. Oblivious maybe, but not relaxed. Daniel was very much the paranoid type. Somewhere in that dense teen mind of his he was probably on his guard… but then Danny wasn't known for his smarts. But then again, how many times had Vlad underestimated the young hybrid?

"Download next file, file 18-0-0-10-JZ. Stop."

This showed a slightly different version of the same boy. Here he sat, legs hanging off of a very -indescribable structure- an open book on his lap. His eyes were not the clouded blue they had been in the last image, they were clear and innocent, almost as if Daniel had forgotten for a moment that he was running… like he actually felt…safe…

It was somewhat disappointing. Danny had worked hard at keeping himself hidden from the world. Now he was getting comfortable, and fast. What was it about these teens that put the boy at ease?

Of course it was because of Danny's foolish hero façade. It had been hard enough when Vlad had had the boy believing that he was the only one who had ever tried the hero's life. Now that Daniel had 'friends'…

But there was no need to worry about that. The game was over, and both hybrids knew it. Danny's runaway attempt proved it. This wasn't a plan; the boy had no goal, no card up his sleeve. He had been beaten, and this was his last stand, a desperate attempt to prevent what had already transpired, and Vlad would allow him that. If there was anything the crooked billionaire knew it was the importance of patience. He could wait.

All he really needed was for Danny's cracked and bruised heart to be given enough pressure to break it. Once Danny cried out, once he was at the end of himself, he would have no choice but to turn to the only one who was willing to pick up the pieces: Vlad.

Vlad wasn't heartless- mostly. This treatment was for the greater good. Vlad could never build the boy into the son he knew he could be until Danny broke.

You can't fix something that isn't damaged.

"Backup new files." Vlad commanded the computer. He was proud that he had thought to 'recommend' that Skulker have any and all footage of Daniel beamed directly to him. The ghostly hunter had been missing since his last mission; deploying the tracking/surveillance devise. Vlad's guess was the specter had become distracted by some rare find in the Ghost Zone, and after missing his deadline was reluctant to show himself to Vlad Plasmius.

Smart ghost.

"Yes Masters." A highly computerized voice responded to the order. Vlad had canceled the Maddie Program for the time being; it was too painful to see his love's face knowing she could no longer see his.

Here he was, a ruler, the definition of success, but still there was one thing he hadn't succeeded in, and could never hope to succeed in again; winning the heart of the woman he loved.

As Vlad walked out of his laboratory, he wondered at himself. He had spent so much time pursuing Maddie, and now what did he have to show for it? He didn't even feel the grief at her death to the extent he had anticipated. But there was a reason for that.

There was always a reason.

When he had been left bedridden in a hospital by the man he had thought of as his closest friend he had immersed himself in watching football, soon singling out the Green Bay Packers and devoting every ounce of strength to learning everything he could about them. They became his heroes; the ones he could count on to win their battles, battles he had felt as if he had lost already. Those he knew had a bright future, one he doubted he himself had as the doctors puzzled over his blood work.

Throwing himself headlong into obsession had kept him from despair. Then, when he had discovered his powers, he had realized he had the potential to reach the almost godlike pedestal he had placed the Packers upon, and exceed it. Now once again he faced despair, and once again he clung to an illusion to keep himself afloat.

That illusion was becoming the father to his one true love's son.

He did not own the Packers.

His own foolishness had stripped him of the woman he loved.

Two of his dreams had left him, so he did what he knew to do; give anything to reach the third one. If Daniel thought Vlad had been persistent before, he was in for a rude awakening. Daniel had become Vlad's reason for life, and Vlad would not lose that reason.

The man made his way out of his home and towards the limousine waiting for him. He had a visit to make.

----------------Amity Park Police Station, GIW Division----------------------------

"I don't know anything."

"We're not stupid girl."

"Oh, really? You could have fooled me." Sam retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

The agent gave a grunt, leaning over the cold metal table until his face was inches from Sam's. "That's real smart, kid," He growled. "But I've got news for you. You're dealing with the government, and we don't mess around. If you don't give us what we need-"

"Give it a rest Agent K." another man walked into the light of the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. He had the same bald-head white-clothes thing going that his partner did. "Look Samantha,"

"Sam."

"Sam. We're on the same side. You're trying to protect Daniel, and so are we."

"He doesn't need the Guys in White or me to protect him." Sam said angrily. "Danny can take care of himself. And stop it with the 'good cop, bad cop' gig. It's getting old."

"He can't take care of himself." The agent said. "He's just a kid, and it's not abnormal for full-grown adults to crumble after witnessing death the way he did. He needs someone."

Sam's steel determination didn't falter for a moment. "Look, Danny won't lose his sanity or anything. He's stronger than that. And he's not just a kid, he's almost fifteen."

"He's not even old enough to drive!"

"I know for a fact that he's driven the Specter Speeder, a hover-four-wheeler-thing, and the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle! He's _fine _when it comes to _transportation_!" Sam through her hands up in the air. "Why do you guys care anyways? You hated the Fentons!"

The two agents exchanged an uneasy glance. Agent O spoke first. "We didn't agree with their ghost hunting methods, but now-"

"So you hated them when they were alive, but everything's hunky-dory now that they're dead? I never thought I'd say this but you two are _worse_ than _Paullina_!"

"Listen girl, we've been interviewing Daniel's friends for weeks. It seems you, Ms. Grey and the techno-geek are the only ones who are less than cooperative."

"No, really!" Sam said sardonically. "Ooh, I've got an idea! Why don't you go interrogate the shallow media hoggers that are always popping up, telling you how they were _such_ good friends with Danny, and leave us alone since we're so much _trouble_!"

"Well," O said, pulling at his collar. "None of the others seem to… know anything."

"I don't know anything either!"

"You're lying." K growled, once again inches from Sam's face.

"Unless how to get seriously ticked at a couple of government baboons counts as knowledge, I'm afraid your out of luck." She responded.

"Where is he Miss Manson?"

"I DON'T KNOW! I don't even know if _Danny_ knows."

"Are you trying to tell us that Danny has had no contact with you since he ran away?"

"YES!"

"Well we're not buying it."

Sam groaned. She looked up, purple eyes pleading with the gray ceiling. "TAKE ME NOW, I'M BEGGING YOU! I CAN'T INDURE THEIR STUPIDITY!" She shouted.

The door opened. Sam squinted at the sudden light, and had to wait until her eyes adjusted to make out who she was scowling at. Vlad stood in the doorway, straight and arrogant. "May I have a chat with the girl?" he asked Agent O.

"That would be fine Mayor Masters." The agent said.

The two agents stood and left closing the door behind them. Sam glared at the villain, eyes full of hatred. "What do you want Plasmius?" She asked through clinched teeth.

"Nothing you have I'm sure." Vlad said easily, his eyes traveling over the simmering Goth.

"If you think I'm going to tell you anything about where Danny is you're dead wrong."

Vlad laughed harshly. "False bravado will get you no where dear girl. I would think you would have learned that from your friendship with the overly dramatic Danny Phantom."

"I have learned one thing from him; never trust you. I'm not afraid of you, and I sure as heck am not going to tell you anything even if Danny isn't here."

Vlad moved towards the table as he talked. "To think that you believe I would take advantage of your vulnerability while Danny's on his little road trip. I'm shocked!" Vlad bent forward, a cruel smile on his face. "I didn't know you knew me so well."

Sam growled. "Look, Vlad, Danny's gone. He's safe. You can't hurt him."

"And why would I want to? The dear boy's been through enough."

"At your hand!"

Vlads laid back attitude was replaced with a direct harshness at a speed few can match. "Listen child, what happened that night was an accident, one for which both Daniel and carry the blame." He said, his voice forceful.

The metal chair scraping against the concrete floor as Sam stood. "Right, keep acting like it wasn't YOU who told the cops it was Danny Phantom that killed the Fentons. And for the record, I can't see how framing him will do to make him want to be your son."

"I don't _need _him to want to be my son. I am sure you haven't forgotten that I'm Danny's legal guardian. The adoption papers are already being processed. It doesn't really matter what Danny wants anymore. As for framing; I am a very influential man, both here and the Ghost Zone. I'm sure if Vlad Masters happens to vouch for the Ghost Boy the public will love him again."

"And what will Danny have to do to get you to do that?"

"I do not believe that is any of your concern."

Vlad walked behind Sam, his hands clasped behind his back as he bent down to her ear, grinning at her discomfort. "If you think you will be able to beat me at a battle of wits girl, I must warn you that you are terribly out matched. I only came to give you a little message. Danny will soon be my son. You are no longer his friend. You will have no contact with him whatsoever if you value your life- or the lives of Ms. Grey or that boy Tucker."

"I don't have contact anyways. I don't know where he is."

"Ah, I was talking about the future, not the present my dear. Once he's come back."

"He's not coming back."

Vlad chuckled as he moved to the door. "Since I am sure you won't be able to figure it out on your own, I'll tell you. You're assuming I have the same intellectual handicap you seem to sport." Vlad turned towards Sam once again. "Just because you don't know where he is doesn't mean I don't."

Sam's eyes darted to Vlad's, holding all the fear, shock and anger he had been anticipating. Without a word the Mayor opened the door and left, shutting Sam in the room alone with her panic.

The Mayor waltzed easily through the crowded police station. He was sure Ms. Manson would relay the message to the other two. Her and Daniel's other friend had always been around, like a pair of pesky insects. And as to Ms. Grey; with Danny as his own Vlad had no more need of her.

He stopped at the front desk, noting the GIW agent standing impatiently by the door, a purple spider backpack in his right hand, a thermos in his left.

Vlad approached him, slipping into the caring mirage the people of Amity trusted so much.

"Try not to push her to hard hmm? She is a friend of Daniels, and I would like her reasonably untouched when he returns." He said.

"Of course Mayor Masters." The agent responded, straightening.

"I have to admit that I am curious as to why you believe this girl to be of such importance Agent K." Master's stated, easing the conversation towards his goal.

"Oh, you see sir," the Agent began, eager to give the Mayor the information he so desired. "We got an anonymous tip, stating that the girl was in cahoots with the notorious Danny Phantom."

Vlad's eyebrows lifted in feigned surprise. "Oh really?" He wondered out loud. "I wonder who could have given such a call?" The agent bought it. But then they always did.

"And that's not all." The bald man continued. "We found a Fenton Thermos, not unlike the one the Ghost Boy uses. We haven't got around to opening it yet, but we are reasonably sure we will find-"

"May I have a look?" Vlad interrupted. He already knew what was in the thermos; what was in the thermos had been the main reason he had come down to the Police Station (As to how he knew what was in the thermos, Vlad had had his bugs planted around Casper high months ago to help him maintain his insane stalker status).

"Well," Agent K said, taken aback. "I don't know if-"

"My good man," Vlad began, once again interrupting. "You do realize I own Axion Labs, which has one of the best Anti-Ghost security systems ever invented. I assure you anything this thermos contains will be in the best of hands. But if you really want me to tell the head of your division to know you denied _me_, Vlad Masters, who _happens _to provide much of the money the GIV runs on the information I needed well…"

Several manipulative semi-threats later Mr. Masters returned to his car, carrying the thermos in his hand. He had the next step to his plans secured. These Teen Titans better take their hands off his son or they wouldn't know what hit them.

-----------------Jump City, California, Next Day----------------------------------------

Dawn found Titan Tower the way it always did, an emblem of justice rising as if from the sea.

Inside the Tower most of the youths it housed were still lost in sleep.

But not all of them.

"AAAH!"

Robin slammed his leg into the punching bag, causing the piece of equipment to swing wildly, but the bags trajectory was far from matching the intensity with which his own thoughts were spinning. He was coming so close to the mysteries surrounding Danny, yet the closer he got the further away he seemed.

_Punch._

Why had Phantom chosen the heroes path in the first place?

_Kick._

What in the world had transpired to mold Danny into an index book full of more spectral knowledge than Robin had previously known existed?

_Punch, punch, swing-kick._

And what had happened to cause Danny to loose trust in Phantom?

_Punch, punch, pun-_

"You busy?"

Robin turned, spotting Raven standing in the doorway. She looked him over, her expression incredulous. "Did you sleep at all last night? When I left to meditate you were still talking with Danny."

Robin walked over to a bench, picking up a towel and proceeding to dab the sweat off of his face. "I slept some. Had a lot to think about."

"I bet."

"It's just so frustrating. The more I know about him the more I discover there is to know." Robin didn't have to specify who 'him' was; Raven already knew.

"The team is much better off with him and the information he can give but… when he was talking to us, it was like he was trying so hard to tell the truth, yet, for some reason couldn't."

"Your point?"

"…I don't know what my point is. Maybe that's why it's so infuriating. He's not just a boy who decided he was sick of his family. I know there's a bigger picture here, but I can't seem to figure it out. The Danny we saw yesterday the one who came back, knowing we would have questions, knowing it was going to be uncomfortable... he was so different than the one we met a couple days ago. It makes you wonder exactly how much of what he portrays is real, and how much is a lie."

Raven moved towards Robin, moving the hood off of her head. "And Phantom? What do you think of him?"

"What I said yesterday. I can't really decide much more than that. On one hand, he and his kind aren't known for being particularly benevolent towards humans; but all of us know that doesn't necessarily define him."

Raven nodded, knowing Robin was mostly talking about her.

"On the other hand, for some reason he's a friend of Danny's even if Danny's not sure if he can trust him. And he saved Beastboy's life. I'm not going to forget that."

"And this GIW he mentioned?"

"I have some research to do concerning them. I just haven't gotten around to it yet."

Raven noticed the wrinkles that formed on Robin's forehead, feeling the teen's confusion; that was something Robin didn't feel very often, and Raven sensed that it angered him. "You didn't push Danny near as hard as I thought you would yesterday." She said.

Robin sighed, seating himself on the bench. "I know. I guess it doesn't matter much; we learned what we needed to know."

"Just not what we _wanted_ to know."

Robin allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah. It's like Cyborg said. He hasn't been here very long. I guess we can afford to give him a little space."

"Or maybe you aren't pushing because he reminds you of someone else who lives with secrets?" Raven prompted.

Robin looked down, flexing his gloved hands. He didn't know if that was the reason. He admitted to himself that Danny and him shared some of the same traits, but as past experience had taught the Boy Wonder, those most like you could easily turn out to be your worst enemies.

It felt as if all Robin had seen of Danny was the after-product, but as to what had shaped him in this fashion, the reasons he was like he was, Robin had no idea.

That's what he needed to know: the reason.

There was always a reason.

Robin just had to find it.


	14. Reminders

**Guess who isn't dead! I'm sorry for the wait… again… had something to do with school, computer viruses, needing more RAM to use and five rewrites.**

**Disclaimer: To say I don't own no cartoons would be a lie.**

…

**It's a double negative people.**

**Here we go!**

Strong Enough (a Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 14: Reminders

--------------------------------

Robin was not tired. He was past feeling the strain the late night had inflicted on his body. He had discovered long ago that behind the veil of sleepiness there was a type of energy reserve that could keep him going for days if he managed to reach it. It wasn't a hard idea for him to grasp. The human body never spends all its energy at one time. It saves a little, as a reserve for emergencies. If you made it past the first wave of exhaustion this "back up power" kicked in, allowing you to trudge on steadily.

The only problem with Robin's strategy was that this back up power doesn't have an off switch. Once you've turned it on you are forced to keep going until every once of you is spent.

But, of course, Robin had more important things to deal with, and was not about to concern himself with meaningless things like his health.

Robin reached one of the many sliding doors in Titan Tower and waited as the barrier moved into the wall allowing him access of the Operation Center. The reds and blacks of the room were muted slightly by the now breaking sun, giving the room a much softer look.

It had not been long since he and Raven had talked, and Robin was ready to do a little digging concerning a government funded program known as the GIW, and by the hints Phantom had dropped him Robin wasn't to sure he was going to like what he found.

The wiry boy strode across the room and placed a firm hand on the back of the wide black chair positioned in front of the computer.

As Robin made to sit a slight whimpering sound drew his attention to the half circle sofa behind him. The no-longer-a-Boy Wonder turned towards the distraction, and spotted the second teen in the room. It was Danny, the sleeping boy's black hair thrown messily to one side because of the way he had been sleeping. His blanket was also twisted around him in a way that indicated that Danny had tossed and turned during the night.

Robin smirked lightly at the mussed teen, wondering how he could have forgotten him. A strangled cry from the younger teen caused the smirk to fall off Robin's face. A frown soon replaced it as Robin noted the way Danny's brow was furrowed and the shine of sweat on his forehead and upper lip.

As Robin watched Danny's sleeping body tensed, his eyes flickering hurriedly behind his eyelids.

He was having a dream. A nightmare, really.

'Stop." The fourteen year old pleaded, his slurred voice etched with fear. The boy began to writhe under his blanket, his pleading voice uttering words Robin could not quite make out. The writhing stopped, and Danny lay breathing heavily until some unknown force caused him to lurch again.

Robin moved to the boy's side, concern clashing with his indecision regarding what to do. He wanted to wake Danny up, but he of all people knew that sometimes you needed to go al the way through such dreams; to experience and then conquer them…

"STOP!" The word came again, and Robin stood still, his head bowed in empathy for the experience he imagined Danny was going through. Poor kid…

"Stop it, stop… HURTING HER!"

Robin's hands were suddenly on Danny's shoulders, his decision to let the boy battle his own demons revoked instantly by the cry.

Robin shook the thin frame at an intensity he had not intended, feeling the sharp bones just under the skin, the half formed decision to make sure Danny ate more darting through his head.

"Danny! Danny, wake up!" He ordered. "Snap out of it!"

The terror filled blue eyes sprang open, and for a moment Robin saw the same raw fear he had seen when he had walked into the operation center the day before. He had no time to contemplate this as Danny immediately threw a sloppy punch, which the fighter caught easily.

They sat in this position for a moment while Robin waited for Danny to recognize his surroundings. Danny did so quickly, curiosity followed closely by shock and embarrassment signifying he had pieced together the reason his right fist was held in Robin's firm gloved hand.

Robin let go and moved back a few steps to allow Danny some space. The teen rose, an tomato red blush present in his cheeks as he mumbled his apologies to Robin concerning the hit he had attempted.

"I-I-I'm really sorry. I mean I really didn't mean to swing at you, I just looked up and you were right there, and for a sec I thought you were-"

Danny cut off abruptly, his wide eyes telling Robin that they were terribly close to something personal.

"Who did you think I was?"

Danny shook his head. "No one, no one at all." He said hurriedly. He placed a hand over those troubled blue eyes and dragged it down. "Stupid dream." He muttered crossly.

Robin wanted to help, but he turned away instead, realizing Danny hadn't meant for him to hear that.

Danny sighed, the last of the sharp panic residing. H e wasn't surprised by the dream. He had had it often since his family's death. It was always the same, yet somehow it always seemed worse than the last time. Frankly, he was surprised it had taken it this long to resurface.

Robin gave Danny a side long glance from under the cover of his mask. "Are you alright?" He asked carefully.

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm…" Danny's fib trailed off as he attempted to find enough courage to finish. "Fine." He croaked.

Robin turned towards the computer, far from convinced. "Danny," He began, "If you ever need to talk about-"

"No." The fierce finality in Danny's tone was such a blatant contrast to the fear his eyes had held moments before that Robin was temporarily shocked by it. It was like he had told Raven earlier: it made you wonder how much of what Danny portrayed was real, and how much of it was a lie.

"I mean, I don't mean to be rude but I really don't need anyone's sympathy."

So that was it. Robin had seen that same look in the instrant when Danny had compared Beastboy to a babysitter. Danny didn't want sympathy. He didn't want to feel helpless.

Robin could respect that.

"Alright. But Danny, if you ever decide…"

"Yeah, I know. I've heard it before." Danny answered curtly. The boy stood abruptly, grabbing his bags and making his way towards the exit. Robin turned his back, wondering how he was going to get back to business with _this_ buzzing in his head.

"Robin?"

The Titan leader turned, seeing that Danny had not quite made it out of the room yet. The boy had turned, his hand held in the doorway the same way one would hold an elevator door open, those eyes a confusing mix of defiance and gratefulness.

"Um… thanks. Not that I'll take you up on that, but still, just the offer means… well something. So…"

"Your welcome."

Danny nodded soberly and tuned. Robin brought his attention slowly back to the computer, his mind slightly amused and extremely frustrated by the mystery he was sure surrounded Danny.

"_If I didn't know better I'd swear that kid _enjoys_ spike my curiosity."_

--------------------------------------------

After Danny exited the bathroom he stood in the hall, unsure of what he should do. He had seen Robin seat himself at the computer and couldn't help wondering what the older teen meant to use it for. He would have liked to think that Robin was taking up the challenge the hybrid had laid before him after the fight with Ember, but the nagging worry in the back of his mind demised this as impossible.

That would be easy, and in Sam's words, it was NEVER easy. Never in a million years.

"Knowing my luck he's probably doing a background check on me or something." Danny mumbled to himself.

The Halfa shook his head. Why in the world had he agreed to live with _superheroes_ in the first place? He was a runaway teen for crying out loud!

Danny shook his head. What _had_ made him come? Longing for human contact? The fact that there were people his age fighting to live the hero's life as he had for so long? The faces that day in the park that had actually cared?

No. Well maybe a little… but the main purpose of his presence was to help the Titans learn about ghosts and then move on.

Danny scratched his head. If he didn't stop worrying about this he was going to get himself too depressed to do anything. Danny needed to do something, to focus on something worthwhile and let his doubts fade.

Once he had left Amity Park having something to do had ceased to be a problem. He had always had something with which to occupy his time; finding food or water, earning money, choosing a place to stay for the night, or walking. Danny had learned to enjoy walking, hearing the steady pound of his feet against the road and knowing without a doubt that HE had chosen to walk, not some ghost, not some court, not the future he had blatantly denied for so long. No one had made him, no blackmail had been issued, he had simply begun walking and would continue walking until his own choice brought him to a stop.

This gave Danny an unaccountable since of self preservation that the teenager thrived off of. It was the only way he could effectively hide from the dreams that plagued his sleep.

But now as he stood unsure in the hallway he was confronted with the fact that he was stuck, just like he had been with Vlad. Albeit this time the chains which held him were self inflicted instead of forced like it had been with Plasmius, but the consequences were the same. He was raw, exposed and unable to fight. Unable to fight the pain inside, unable to fight himself…

It would be so easy to let it out. He wasn't about to tell the Titans everything, but some things, the things not having to do with his ghost half he would have given anything to get off his chest.

Yet still he kept it in, gripping the hurt as if it was something he wanted.

In a way it was. He felt as if to let the poisonous grief go would be to forget them, to turn his back… and he never wanted to do that. He would be fine…

Danny didn't know if that was a lie or not. He didn't feel fine right now. He didn't feel strong.

He wasn't okay. He wasn't healed. He was broken…

Danny let out a haggard sigh, mentally fighting the despair welling up in his being. He had to find something to do, anything to do, anything at all. He needed to get his mind off of the faces that plagued his thoughts, but thinking of anything else seemed impossible.

Danny's mind rewound to the discussion the previous day.

It had been hard and strangely familiar to dance around Robin's interrogation, but Danny had managed. The experience also opened the door to really educate the Titans on ghosts. There would be no awkward moments, no demanding how Danny had learned this information; it could all be blamed on his supposed friendship with 'Phantom' as the Titans had continued to call Danny's ghostly alter ego.

Danny began to pace the hall, his mind calming some at the familiarity of having his legs moving under him.

He couldn't walk. He couldn't run away, but he wasn't as completely dependent as he had felt in Amity Park.

After the scare where Vlad had infiltrated Jazz's bloodstream with nano-bots Team Phantom had made room for Jazz, causing sort of the same "train the NewB" situation Danny was now facing. Jazz had already known some about ghosts, and hacking into his private ghost files had helped educate her even more. Unfortunately Danny didn't have the files…

But that didn't mean he couldn't recreate them.

He had come to Titan Tower to do a job, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Invigorated by the feeling of decision Danny sped up, making his way towards the Titan's rooms and away from the Main room.

The hybrid's determination was not quite strong enough to do away with the feeling that he was intruding as he made his way through the dark hallways of the tower. It wasn't like he hadn't been through the tower before, but last time he had been to intent on finding a way to the roof he hadn't really thought about the fact that this was someone's home and that he was trespassing. Now every turn, every step took brought the teen further from his comfort zone.

"_Did they purposefully make their halls extra creepy to scare off intruders or something?"_ Danny wondered sarcastically, his stature shrinking some as he glanced at the dark grays around him. _"If they did its working."_

Danny stopped in front of a series of doors, his eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to decide which door to knock on.

Robin was in the main room, so he was out.

Danny doubted Starfire could help him. She was willing and exuberant, kindness in its purest form, but… Danny pushed the 'but' away. He didn't want to think about it, about the image still fresh in his brain of another red head that had wanted so much to help. One he hadn't let help, one who was gone-

Did ALL of the Teen Titans remind him of someone he knew?

Shaking his head Danny stepped up to Beastboy's door. He didn't know why he chose Beastboy over Cyborg. Maybe it was because Cyborg seemed so much like an adult. Sure he played (or more accurately beat) Beastboy at video games and enjoyed bickering with his younger green friend but there was something in the way he carried himself that told Danny under his somewhat childish escapades stood a man, a man Danny wouldn't mind asking for assistance concerning something important, but not as trivial as art supplies.

Danny rapped on Beastboy's door quickly before he lost his nerve, waiting for any sign that the youngest Titan was awake. He got none.

"Beastboy?" He called, waiting for an answer. The silence behind the door caused him to second guess his decision, but he wasn't quite at the quitting point yet.

"BB?" He said, using the teen's nickname somewhat hesitantly.

This time his call was answered with a large thump and a muffled reply that sounded like something along the lines of 'five more minutes'.

"Err… Beastboy? I probably shouldn't have woken you, but I need a little help and I was wondering-"

Danny's explanation was cut off by the door opening. A fuzzy green head greeted him, lax and droopy from sleep.

"Danny?" Beastboy slurred, rubbing his fist into his eyes.

"Uh yeah. Sorry about waking you up," Danny repeated. "I just wanted to know, do you by any chance have any paper? Like a notebook or printer paper or something?"

Beastboy answered Danny with a blank stare, trying to draw his wits about him. It took him a minute to process the request. "Uh, have you tried Robin?" He said, his voice giving away his sleepy state.

"That's mainly why I'm here. Robin's using the computer in the room I've been staying in and I don't think I should go back in there until he's done." Danny explained. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing in exasperation. This had been a bad idea.

Beastboy gave a sound of affirmation and retreated into the familiar mess that was his room.

"Paper, paper…" The green teen dove into a stack of knickknacks, searching for his quarry.

"Ah! Nope that ones got tofu on it… here's some!"

Beastboy returned to the door, pushing a jumbled stack of blank paper's into Danny's hands.

"Great." Danny said. "Would you by any chance have a pencil or something?"

A large yawn escaped from Beastboy, followed closely by a face splitting grin.

"Pencils? I got way better than pencils."

------------------Thirty Minutes Later, Beastboy's Room, Titan Tower-------------------

"I still say talking tofu trumps glowing turkey."

"Are you kidding? That scarred me for life! I could never eat my mother's Christmas turkey after that without turning the lights off to see if it glowed first. Pass the purple."

Beastboy selected the correct color and handed it to Danny, who was laying belly down on the only clean spot on the entire floor of the green Titans room. The hybrid looked at the object in his hand, waving it around as he talked.

"I still don't get why you own like ten boxes of crayons."

"Dude, why not? _Everyone_ likes crayons." Beastboy exclaimed.

Danny shook his head, a bemused smile on his face. He turned back to the piece of paper lying in front of him and began to use the crayon to color in the purple plume on top of the figures head.

"Who's this again?"

Danny scrutinized his work, noticing that proportions were slightly off. Oh well.

"This is the Fright Knight. I'm pretty sure Raven would know more about him than even I do, but still, why not? If I'm going to draw the ghosts I know _and_ write down any powers and weaknesses I remember I might as well do all of them. Black."

Beastboy grabbed the desired crayon and handed it to Danny.

"That guy's really scary looking."

"You should see the real one."

The two teens traded crooked grins before Danny began coloring the rest of the Knight.

"So… why are you doing this again?"

I just woke up and needed something to do. I hate just sitting around."

"Are you kidding?" Beastboy asked, falling face down onto the lower bunk of his bed. "Doing nothing is my specialty." He said, though Danny could barely make out his words seeing that the shape shifter's face was covered with a pillow.

"If you count saving the world on regular bases nothing." Danny said, his voice closer to teasing than it had been for a long time.

"Well… yeah. There's that." Beastboy acknowledged, lifting his head off of the cushion. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence which, surprisingly, Danny broke.

"You know I'm all out of conversation starters that apply here." He admitted. "I mean things like 'where do you go to school' and 'do you play sports' don't really seem to cut it when you're talking to teenage super heroes. Not that I have many social skills anyways."

"Why not?" Beastboy asked curiously.

It's very probably that if Danny had caught Beastboy staring at him he would have closed down immediately, but he was to busy coloring.

It's always so much easier to talk when you're _doing_ something.

"I don't have many friends. I have two… three maybe, if you count Val, but other than that I was never really popular in social settings." Danny stopped, smacking himself internally for the one person he'd forgotten when listing his friends.

"Of course there was Jazz." He said, trying to portray how important she was using his voice. "There was always Jazz. Jazz was the one that held me up so often without me even realizing it." Danny gasped as the black crayon broke due to the pressure he was applying to it. Beastboy grabbed the second crayon box.

"Hold on a sec, I know I have another black in here…"

"That's okay." Danny said, grinning as he passed the picture to BB. "I'm done I think."

The shape shifter took the picture and began to laugh lightly.

"What?" Danny demanded, alarm on his face. Was his attempt at drawing really that bad?

"Dude, he looks like he's got a bucket stuck on his head!"

Danny's face cracked into another smile. His cheeks were already aching from the exercise his… err… smiling muscles had been subjected to on an almost regular bases since Beastboy had offered to help with cataloging the ghost info, but he didn't care.

It felt so good to act so normal, like the carefree version of himself he had left in Amity Park. Beastboy was easy to talk to, and it helped that Danny had stopped confiding in others months ago and, even if he didn't want to admit it, was starving for human contact.

The reason he had no qualms about confiding in Beastboy was simple. He needed to talk to someone, and Beastboy was ready to listen. That's all the invitation Danny needed at this state. Beastboy was_ there,_ and that was enough.

"He looked like he had a bucket on his head in real life too." He said, the smile still on his face.

Beastboy scanned the words to the right of the sketch and then pointed to the sword drawn at the Knights side. "This thing seriously sends you to a place were you live out your worst fear?" He asked, green eyes wide.

"Yup."

"Wow. Have you ever been hit with it?"

"No. Thank heavens. I already know what my worst fear is and I don't necessarily want to face it again. I mean it's not like I don't do that at night all the time, but there's something about knowing you can't wake up that's kind of scary. Or, scarier anyway."

"_Not that anything could by scarier than _that._"_

Beastboy attempted to talk but was interrupted by his own yawn.

Danny sighed. He really shouldn't have woken Beastboy. The poor guy looked like he was going to pass out and start snoring at any moment.

After the yawn had passed the changeling tried again. "Is that why you were up so early? You had a bad dream or something didn't you?"

Danny realized too late that he had told the green kid too much. His mind searched for an excuse, the same type of lie that always seemed to make itself known in times like these, but something in him kept him from needling his way out of the hard spot he had put himself in.

He needed to get this out. It was poisoning him, and he needed to heal. Talking about it was a way to do that… Danny had lived with an aspiring psychologist long enough to know that much.

"I've had worse, and Robin woke me up before the bad part. I So no harm done, right?" Danny picked the crayons up off of the floor and handed them back to Beastboy who inserted them back into the box with some difficulty (Why won't they stand up straight?).

"Who's next?" Beastboy asked, setting the completed sketch on top of the other completed works and tossing a paper at Danny.

Danny placed a hand on the page and moved it in front of him, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I guess we can do Ember."

Beastboy took another paper off a stack of laundry and waved it in front of Danny's face.

"We never finished this one. We barely started it. All we got is the name."

Danny stared silently at the sheet, the letters scrawled across the top of the page causing his eyes to darken.

PLASMIUS

That one word was enough to make him want to growl in anger.

He wanted to write out everything he knew about Vlad, _every little thing_. Who he really was, what he had done to him, how he would _pay_…

"_Then why don't you? Why don't you tell them all of it? God knows Vlad deserves it, and knowing him you'd better make a move now before he does."_

Danny grabbed the paper and smacked it down on the floor, grasping the crayon Beastboy handed him and pressing it against the page. But then, as he thought of the wicked fangs, the black hair, the blood red eyes-

"I can't." He said softly. "I don't know why. It's not like I don't know what he looks like, it's just…"

_I don't know if I could stand to look at him. I'm… scared of him."_

Danny would never in a million years admit that to anyone, but in his heart he recognized the cold lump in the pit of his stomach for what it was.

"I can't." He whispered.

"Dude its okay." Beastboy consoled as he stood, alarmed by the sudden almost haunted look in Danny's eyes. "If you don't want to do this guy we can skip-"

"That's the thing. I do want to. I want to tell you everything. But I just can't."

Danny pushed the paper away.

"I'm sorry." He said, a bit of despair making itself heard in his voice.

"Sorry? For what?" BB asked, bewildered by Danny's actions.

"_For being weak. For not being good enough, strong enough to win. For losing way before the game even started."_

"Just sorry. It doesn't have to be for anything." The halfa said out loud.

Beastboy nodded, the look in his eyes showing that he understood somehow.

"Thanks." Danny said, his eyes piercing into Beastboy's.

"No problem!" The shape shifter assured, his smile widening. "Uh… what for?"

"I don't know… being here. Being real."

If Beastboy thought Danny's words were weird he didn't show it.

"Cool! That's me! All realness. You didn't think I'd waist these good looks on being fake did ya?" He stated smugly, crossing his arms behind his head and flopping onto the bed once more.

Danny gave a soft smile as he watched the green boy.

"What?" Beastboy asked, sensing that Danny's amusement didn't come from Beasboy's joke.

Danny's eyes snapped back into focus, the smile turning into a small frown.

"What what?" He asked.

"You were smiling."

"I was? Really?"

Beastboy nodded.

"I-I-I-Its nothing." He stammered. "You just- remind me of someone. Seems everyone here does."

Beastboy's eyes lit up. "Really?" He asked. His happiness soon lapsed into uneasiness though. "It's a good person isn't it?" He asked apprehensively. "Tell me it was a good person."

"Actually…he's one of the best friends I have ever had." Danny stated quietly.

Beastboy lighted up like a Christmas tree, and although Danny wasn't really the holiday type he thoroughly enjoyed this boy's 'I got everything I asked for' expression.

"This Plasmius dude reminds me of someone too. Or the name anyway."

"Who?"

"This guy called Plasmus. He's pretty much a huge pussy zit."

If the mere mention of the older halfa's name hadn't instantly soured his mood Danny might have chuckled at the puss filled version of Vlad that instantly popped into his head.

Danny doubted he could ever hear that name again without his insides turning as if he had drunk acid.

But then, maybe he was wrong. Maybe someday he would heal.

And looking into the green eyes of a boy so ready to pull along side him, Danny couldn't help thinking that maybe he was almost ready to find out.

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Three cheers for bonding! Oh dear this took a while… Thanks to the wonderful reviewers and all those who gave me inspiration if they knew it or not. Till next time!


	15. Empty Seats

**This chapter is more or less oriented around Amity Park. I'm beginning to really enjoy writing about the Ghost Getters. I would like to tell all of you reading that I'm very grateful. Thank you to all those who have put this story or me as the author on your alert and/or favorites list. I would have never thought so many of you would like this story. Thank you so much.**

**Forward march!**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 15: Empty Seats

The door to the operation center opened to show Cyborg standing in the hall. The metal Titan gave a wide yawn as he walked into the room. He stopped when he spotted Robin hunched over the computer monitor in a fashion that was sure to eventually cause carpel tunnel syndrome.

"What's up Rob?" Cyborg asked, secretly wondering if the guy ever slept.

For an answer Robin brought a fist down on the console, causing the piece of equipment to rattle. "I hate this!" He exclaimed.

"Hate what?"

Robin began typing. A picture of a tall boy came up. The teen wore dark glasses and a black and white shirt. A gold earring hung from his left ear. His pure white hair was styled similar to Robins.

At first Cyborg thought he was looking at the ghost boy in disguise, mislead by the hair, but the bone structure was much too pinched for the kid on the screen to be Phantom.

"This is Elliot Mandel, a native of Michigan. He encountered the GIW Phantom was talking about in a small city in Illinois. He claims that GIW agents shot missiles at him and a couple other teens from the local high school without cause, but seeing that neither of the other teens involved pressed charges the accusation was dropped."

"Some kid who wanted a little attention?" Cyborg purposed.

Robin shook his head and leaned back, rubbing his chin absently. "That's what I thought too, but after a little digging I found way too many complaints like this for us to pass it off as a publicity stunt."

"If these complaints are founded why haven't these GIW people been shut down?" Cyborg wondered.

"Because everything having to do with them is closed away from the rest of the law enforcement system." Robin said. "I've found property vandalism charges, this Mandel thing, even an entire newscast depicting the destruction of a mansion is Wisconsin. The only reason they're still out there is no one has the guts to put it all together and bring them down."

Cyborg clenched a fist, Robin's disgust rubbing off on him. "So they do whatever they want and get away with it because they're with the government?"

"Pretty much. They say that they are performing under the federal Anti-Ecto Control Act (which actually exists) to ensure the obliteration and or incarceration of all malevolent ghostly manifestations." Robin answered. "AKA, government funded ghost hunters."

"I'm beginning to see why Phantom might have a bone to pick with these guys." Cy commented, walking closer to the Boy Wonder.

"And as far as I can tell," Robin continued. "They cause as much damage to the general populace as the ghosts (who seem to be much commoner further east by the way). Not to say they don't have some good marks to their name, mainly after the most recent mayor election in the same city I mentioned earlier, but there's too much against them for me to let it die."

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow. "The same city?"

"It's weird. The Mayor elected happened to own the mansion that was destroyed by the GIW. I haven't made it a point to find more connection yet, but everything seems to come back to this one city in one way or another. It's all tied together, I'm _sure _of it, but I just can't find the one string that untangles it all."

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, the weight of the information heavy on his shoulders.

"So…" Cyborg asked, giving Robin a side long glance. "What does GIW stand for?"

"Guys in White." Robin said, not shifting his position.

"Man, even their name stinks."

Robin grunted in affirmation.

"So, what's this mysterious town's name?" Cy asked.

"Amity Park."

-----------Casper High, Amity Park Illinois---------------

The students of Casper High passed the day as they had passed many others. They laughed and talked, each student trying their best to ignore the feeling of unease hidden just underneath the flirtatious smiles and flaunted immaturity.

At lunch Valerie made her way silently through the cafeteria line. She glanced at the glop that dared to call itself her lunch with muted disgust, and then stopped, looking over the various benches for a place to sit.

Closest to her was a table she knew all to well. She had spent- no- _wasted_ the first part of her school career there, laughing at the jokes no one got, smiling at the ones who made the rules, living as the "A List" people lived, hollow and vain. They sat there now, and Valerie felt a twinge of unexplainable elation that quickly turned to heartache as she realized that no matter how loudly they laughed the popular kids couldn't drown out the silence of the two they had shunned.

On the far side sat a group of the darker students. Although Sam Manson held the claim as the resident creepy Goth teen, Casper did have a few select youths who probably could take the title from her if they spoke out as loudly as she did. One of these socially bankrupt few glanced toward Valerie, and though his sunken eyes only held hers for a moment, that moment was enough for the girl to feel a tad heavier in her heart.

That was the table Jasmine Fenton had occupied off and on through out the year. She had sat across from that one demented youth, arguing with his apparent depression.

"The world's a lot prettier than you give it credit for Spike." She would say. "Sure, I know we all die, but don't forget that we have a chance to live until then. And that's a long time from now anyway, right?"

Wrong.

Dead wrong.

Valerie winced. Wrong choice in words.

The other seat screaming its emptiness was one that shot pain through Valerie's heart every time she looked at it. Pain,

Sorrow, and… anger. A burst of anger because unlike the seat across from the troubled juvenile, this one had been left empty by a choice, a choice to run, to leave them all behind.

And the sorrow, the sorrow came from the one time she had seen Danny after the tragedy. She had been standing outside the court house amidst a crowd of frenzied reporters when Vlad Master's had ushered her friend through the narrow path the police had managed to clear. He hadn't looked good- Danny's left arm had been in a sling, and the way he moved had given away the rumored bandages wrapped around his middle.

Valerie remembered how her skin had crawled seeing Vlad, that man, that _thing_ lay his hand carelessly across Danny's shoulders, and for one moment she imagined she saw the same repulsion on Danny's face at the touch. But of course, she was probably mistaken. Danny didn't know what she did about Vlad.

But then she hadn't thought anyone could know about her ghost hunting either, but he had.

"Danny knew." She whispered to herself. She sighed. Maybe she hadn't known him as well as she thought she had.

She wondered how much he actually saw, how much he had known that she had assumed he missed. He had seemed so clueless. Looking at those eyes you would never think there was anything other than the innocence betrayed there. But the eyes she had seen as Mayor Masters used his hand to gently guide Danny into the courtroom had been very different then the ones she had wanted to see.

That innocence, that honest fire that always seemed to throb in the youngest Fenton had failed. It had died along with Danny's family.

Valerie had seen eyes like that before. They weren't full of grief, they weren't full of anger, and they sure as heck weren't filled with acceptance. But as to what they were filled with…

The last time she'd seen eyes like that had been years before, when her mother was staring up at her daughter from her death bed.

"Hey, are you just going to stand there or what?"

Valerie glanced behind her to find the cafeteria line crowding around her elbows. She silently walked forward, not even considering giving out an apology. Let the few wait. There were more important things going on than clogged lines.

Valerie was still faced with a decision as to where she could sit. As her eyes went over the room once more she felt a slight shyness when she saw the two teens sitting at the otherwise empty table glance in her direction. She thought of how the two seemed uncannily similar to a pair of guards, protecting the empty seat between them.

Valerie's eyes glinted and she walked forward resolutely, her stubborn streak thick enough to strangle the feeling that she wasn't welcome there.

Valerie didn't tolerate timidity; especially her own.

The hunter didn't ask if she could sit. She simply sat, with a thud and a tilt of her head, as if telling herself _I AM going to sit here, if I want to or not._

Sam froze. For one moment the she was tempted to leave, but she bit her lip and stayed where she was. At least Valerie had had the sense to sit at the far end. If she had sat in the familiar spot next to Sam the Goth would have screamed. That was Danny's spot, and no matter how hard the realistic part of her fought to show her how unrealistic she was being Sam would not listen. This was NOT just another empty seat. This was HIS empty seat.

Tucker cleared his throat, hoping to break the unbearable tenseness.

"Are we still on for tonight?" He asked. Both girls nodded and looked down at their food. He sighed. Girls.

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked.

"Yes." Sam murmured, poking at her salad. She had to tell him. She knew she had to tell him. Darn it, she should have told Tucker earlier, but caught up in the numb disbelief that had kept her from sleeping last night she had been unable to make the words pass her lips. But now Valerie was here, and Sam really didn't want to tell HER the truth.

"_Except for the fact that I have no choice."_

Valerie had done something unexpected the day before. She had allowed herself to be vulnerable; she had told Sam and Tucker that she needed help. Now it was Sam's turn.

"He knows." Sam blurted facing Tuck again, purple eyes still holding hints of yesterday's crippling despair.

"What?"

Sam's gaze passed uneasily to Valerie as the Goth chose her words. "Vlad knows where Danny is."

Unexpectedly, it was Valerie who reacted first. "WHAT?!" she yelled, clutching the edges of her lunch tray.

"Okay, just calm down, we can fix this." Tucker said hurriedly, his heart quickening. "Are you sure he wasn't bluffing?"

"He wasn't bluffing." Sam said, her voice hollow. "He knows."

Tucker gaped a moment. "How?"

Tuck expected Sam to shoot back something along the lines of 'how would I know?' but instead she stayed silent.

This was bad.

A hissing growl escaped Valerie. How dare that monster even think of touching Danny…"We can't let Vlad find him. We have to do something, worn Danny somehow."

"Wait," Sam interrupted. "You're not on Vlad's side?"

"Yeah!" Tucker added. "You two used to be thick as thieves."

Valerie winced. It was true that she had trusted Vlad, and she wasn't proud of it.

"If Danny wanted to live with him he would have stayed." Valerie stated. She couldn't tell these two that their best friend's guardian was an evil ghost. They had enough to deal with.

Sam's eyes narrowed for no particular reason. She hated everything about this…

"Calm down Sam, we'll figure it out." Tucker said, noticing the look on his friends face.

"What is there to figure out? The GIW brought me in, Vlad kept playing mind games and now the thermos is gone, with Spectra in it. How did I lose it? Why didn't we let Valerie take it when she offered?" The girl implored, momentarily forgetting Valerie was sitting at the same table.

"Because you refused to let it out of your sight?"

Tucker expected a punch in the shoulder but got a defeated sigh instead.

"I know." Sam turned away, not quite able to cover up a reflexive sniff.

Tucker's face sobered. Was she… crying?

The first time Tucker had ever seen Sam cry had been the night Danny left. She had held it back until their friend was in the sky before letting a single racking sob tare through her being. Tucker had been startled by it, even more so because Sam crying seemed like the final blow, the seal that stated things would never be the same again.

Tucker had reached out and grabbed Sam's shoulder, pulling her towards him, and for once he got away with it without being injured.

She had leaned on him, her body shaking in sorrow but her lips stubbornly locked closed, stubbornly refusing to allow the humiliating sobs to pass her lips.

"Sam?" Tucker asked gently, as the girl brushed a hand angrily against her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Silence met his question, followed by an empty "No."

"Sam he's going to be fine." Tucker said softly, shifting awkwardly. "He'll be careful. You know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; and Danny's not dead yet."

"_Well… mostly."_

"If you need anything-" Val began.

A pair of indignant lavender eyes cut her off, followed quickly by the darkly made-up mouth.

"If I need anything? If I _need_ anything? Ooh, I know! I think I _need _you to go jump off a cliff!" Sam lashed out, her temper clouding the reason that told her that Valerie hadn't done anything. "What kind of hypocrite are you, you repulsive ghost hunting heart breaking little-!"

"SAM!" Tuck yelled.

"_WHAT_!" she yelled back, her face pinched in anger, the exotically beautiful features now sour due to her violent emotions.

Instead of answering Tucker pointed towards the silent lunchroom.

Sam's anger melted at the sight of the many eyes upon the threesome's table. She shrank back, resenting herself for bringing attention to herself. She wasn't that kind of girl. She didn't throw tantrums. She didn't draw attention without a cause. She didn't cry…

Val was almost shaking in her seat. Every ounce of self discipline and control she possessed was being used to keep her from tackling Sam to the ground.

"Say you're sorry." Tuck commanded.

"No!"

"Sam! This isn't going to work if-!"

"I'm not apologizing to a stuck up-"

"What would Danny think if he knew we couldn't even get along well enough to have lunch, let alone protect his town?"

Tuck hated to say it, but it was the one thing he knew Sam would listen to.

It worked. Sam's eyes fell and Valerie's barely controlled fury dissipated.

After a long awkward silence in which the stares from the teen's peers slowly dissipated Sam managed to utter a strained apology.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Great. Now why don't you two… um…" Tucker didn't know quite what they should do. He had the strange feeling that if he suggested a hug he'd end up taking Danny's old spot under the nerd-poker table for the rest of the day.

"Shake hands like… err… gentle-girls."

Valerie reached out first, extending her chocolate colored hand. After a tense pause this hand was clasped momentarily by Sam's pale one. As soon as the two touched they dropped away, a hint of remorse evident in Sam's eyes.

"Now that wasn't to hard was it?" Tucker asked, as the bell rang, signaling that the lunch hour was over.

With a speed to be admired Sam stripped the geek of his hat and stuffed it in his mouth before hurrying away.

Val mirrored Tucker's stunned look (the red beret made him look like a pig with an apple in his mouth) and after a moment left for her own classes. Half way to her destination the hunter stopped, one statement previously overlooked now resonating in her brain.

"_What would Danny think if he knew we couldn't even get along well enough to have lunch, let alone protect his town?"_

"His town?" Valerie mumbled as she entered the classroom. "Why did Tuck call it- well I guess it was his town, but to call Amity _his_ instead of ours or just Amity doesn't sit right…"

A slim blond took the seat across the isle from the musing hero.

"Talking to yourself now Valerie?" Starr asked.

Val gave a faint smile. "It's nothing to worry about… I think."

---------------------------------------

The three teens walked towards they're destination in silence. There was nothing to say. Here they were, three fourteen-year-olds, and way to busy with their own thoughts to engage in conversation.

"_What the heck got into me yesterday? I already have two jobs. Now I have to teach these guys what I know also? Am I TRYING to drive myself insane?"_ Valerie shook her head and watched the side walk for something to kick. _"And with a girl that hates me none the less. I could probably handle the ghosts. It's not like I'm helpless. I can probably keep everyone safe… but I might not be able to. We're talking about peoples lives; I can't gamble on them. I'm already into this. There's no backing out now."_

Beside her Tucker was waging his own mental battle. _"What am I getting into? Val and Sam are emotionally unstable teenager girls with hormones and horrible tempers, and I'm going to end up their favorite anger outlet, I just KNOW it! Valerie can protect the city can't she? I mean It's not like she hasn't before… but Danny was there then…"_ Tucker sighed. _"I got to get a grip! I've even dated Valerie before; this isn't something I can't handle. And besides, I HAVE to do it… for Danny."_

Sam's eyes were fixed straight ahead, her thoughts somewhat different then the two beside her. _"He knows. I failed; I couldn't even get the thermos to my house without messing up. I feel like poop, like a silly kid, a puppet, and Vlad's the one pulling the strings. Is this why Danny's always so steamed about Plasmius? I mean I'm sure the fact that he's a twisted overgrown fruit loop has something to do with it, but what if it's something more? What if the reason Danny fought so hard was because he felt vulnerable, like I do now? And then there was the thing at lunch. Valerie didn't do anything except sit there and I jumped all over she's not the problem; maybe I am."_ Sam stopped, her gaze turning to the large house in front of her, and then to Valerie. She wasn't looking forward to this.

"We're here." She said.

Tuck raced up the steps without a second thought, but Valerie hung back a bit.

"What?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing, it's just… big." Valerie said.

"Yeah well…"

Tucker knocked on the door and turned back to Val. "Sam's stinking rich by the way."

"_Thanks for the heads up but I think I was close to figuring that out when her house turned out to be huge." _

The butler opened the door, his sour features unchanged when Sam told him that she and her friends would be in Sam's movie theatre and did not want to be disturbed.

Valerie wasn't one to be impressed by wealth, but she couldn't help glancing around in awe at the shining marble as the trio made their way down the stairs.

"If you're so rich why haven't you told anyone?" She asked, staring in awe at the gigantic movie screen before her.

"That's what I said when I found out." Tucker said.

Sam shrugged. "There's a lot more to life than possessions. I'd rather hang with my friends and be called a loser than be someone I'm not for popularity."

Valerie nodded, feeling a tinge of respect for the Goth. It had taken losing all she had for Valerie to learn that lesson…

"So, let's get started." Tucker took off his backpack and dumped it onto one of the burgundy over-plush chairs. The techno geek began picking through the gadgets, naming each one.

"I've got two Fenton Phones, mine and Danny's, and you still have yours Sam, so that's three. Here's a Fenton Fisher and a Jack-o-nine-tails. Am I the only one who noticed there aren't nine tails on that thing? Oh, and I've got my Specter Deflector."

Moving to one of the shelves Sam pulled out a box and opened it, setting it on the ground. "I still have the prototype Fenton wrist ray Danny let me use at camp, a couple light weight ecto-guns and like Tuck, a specter deflector and my Fenton phones. I had a thermos too, but I'm guessing Vlad has it now."

"Okay." Val responded. "We've got something to work with here."

"Right. Now we just need to figure out how to magnify our resources." Sam added. "You already have your equipment Valerie, so the problem is how to split the weapons between me and Tuck."

Tucker grinned. "I've already got it figured out. Sam can get the weapons and I can be the background guy. You two fight the ghosts and I'll be technical support; literally!"

"Are you sure you're not just trying to get out of a fight?" Sam teased.

But teasing or no teasing it was a good plan; the offensive weapons would go to Sam, and after Tucker pimped Sam's basement to his liking he would oversee from there. He would also be responsible for keeping the gadgets in working condition, something he was very comfortable with.

"I should make you jet powered skates or something so you can keep up with Valerie." He told Sam with a cocky grin.

"You could do that?" Val asked.

Sam laughed. "No he couldn't. In my experience his intelligence ends when his PDA runs out of battery."

"Hey!" Tucker huffed.

Something clicked in Sam's brain. "I do need some sort of transportation …"

Sam turned to Valerie, a glint in her eye and a plan quickly forming in her mind.

**Cyber-cookies to anyone who can guess what Sam's plan is. Extra cyber-cookies if you can guess why Eliot's last name is Mandel. Hope you guys liked it! **

**Just to say, I was a little iffy about Sam's explosion during lunch, but I do believe it's in character. Sam was full of fear and doubt because of Vlad, and simply took it out on the first person to rub her wrong; Valerie.**

**Thanks for reading! Until next time!**


	16. Fragile Bonds

**All cheer for getting this out fast! I enjoyed this chapter. It's kind of important actually… and LONG (for me at least)! About 6,600 words so… you've been warned!**

**Elliot's last name is Mandel becouse there was a famous scientist named Gregor Mandel, and since Elliotused the aliace "Gregor", well, I used Mandel. Congrats and cyber-cookies to Lethy for guessing right.**

Strong Enough (A Teen Titan, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 16: Fragile Bonds

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It was an unusual day for the Titans, but seeing a usual day involved bringing criminals to justice and fighting for their lives most of the resident heroes didn't mind.

Raven looked up from her book, studying her friends. The Titans were scattered across the main room doing what they did best; hanging out.

Well second best. Bringing law and order to Jump City was a definite first.

Robin sat at the counter, staring thoughtfully into his coffee cup. He was still brooding over the information he had uncovered earlier. Not for the first time in the youth's life he found himself wondering which was better; no connections or too many. No connections could be frustrating, but too many connections could be dangerous. If he made connections where there were none he risked compromising the lives of innocence simply on a hunch, and when you had as much say in the judicial system as the Teen Titans did this was always a concern.

So what were connections and what was simply Robin's natural inquisition working overtime when it came to Danny and the Guys in White?

"I wish I knew." The teen mumbled.

"What is it you wish that you had the knowing of?"

Robin looked up into Starfire's wide green eyes. They were beautiful eyes, full of caring and concern.

"Nothing Star. I'm probably just thinking too much."

"Is it the thinking of our new friend Danny?" Star asked softly. Most of the conversations in the past few days had revolved around the newcomer and it was hard to miss just how much the mystery bugged the Boy Wonder.

"Yes. I just don't get him." Robin said. He looked back at his coffee, realizing this conversation would probably follow the same pattern as his earlier chat with Raven.

Starfire nodded. "Is it that you do not get him, or that you get him too much?"

Before Robin could answer he was interrupted by the gradually increasing volume of the shouts behind him.

"You're goin' down grass stain!"

"Hey! That was an illegal move!"

Cyborg grinned at the perturbed shape shifter while increasing his hold on his game controller. "It's not an illegal move." He said.

"Yes it is!"

"You're only saying that because you're about to lose."

"Am not!"

The message NEW HIGH SCORE! And the dropping of Cyborg's name onto the current record holder's name (which happened to also be Cyborg's) proved the green Titan wrong.

Cyborg cheered, prancing around as Beastboy sulked.

Raven rolled her eyes at the incident, but deep down she found herself to be not as annoyed as she could have been. After all it wasn't like they were making _her_ play…

"Hey Raven!" Beastboy dutifully popped up before the empath, the smile across his face not boding well for the dark girl.

"_Speaking of the devil."_ She thought before inwardly slapping herself for the comparison.

Beastboy, undaunted by the glare he was receiving from the girl, began talking. "Rae, do you want to, maybe-"

"No."

How about-"

"No."

But could you-"

"No."

"But it's-"

"No Beastboy."

"But-"

"I'm not going to talk to you until I'm done with my book."

"But- but that thing's huge!"

Raven's glare intensified. "Unlike you, I want to know more about the ghosts we're facing. If you don't stop bothering me we may never get to the bottom of this."

"Sure we will. We can just ask Danny. He knows all about that kind of stuff."

The changeling finally noticed Raven contempt and quickly backed away from the girl.

"I don't know about you, but I'm sure I can find the information _without_ him."

"Without who?"

Raven turned her head to better see who made the comment. It happened to be Danny, who smiled lightly at the Titans before joining them in the main room.

Raven brought her book up and commenced to reading again as Beastboy jumped to Danny's side.

"Dude! You _gotta_ help me make Raven play a game with me!"

Danny threw a questioning glance at the girl to find her attempting to set Beastboy on fire with her glare.

"If she's reading I really don't think that's a good idea."

"How do you know that? You haven't been here long enough to know that. Beastboy's been here forever and he still doesn't know that." Cyborg joked.

A slight smile passed briefly over Danny's face as Beastboy glowered at his half-robot friend. He thought a moment before speaking.

"That's one thing I used to do to annoy my sister. She would be reading a book and I'd start talking to her about the weather or something, just to tick her off."

Most movement in the room stopped as Danny made his way to the sofa. The Titans had never heard him say anything about his family…

"I knew he just needed time." Cyborg said to himself, sending an "I told you so" smile in Robin's direction.

The leader himself didn't see Cyborg gloating however. He was busy staring after Danny as the boy sat down.

Raven was watching Danny too. She wasn't sure if she liked the boy for his gentle timidity or hated him for coming into her home.

"_I can't hate him for that. It's childish. Childish and wrong. It's not like he asked me to trust him…"_

"So you'd tick her off for no reason?" Beastboy asked.

"Hey, I'm her younger brother. It's my job."

Cy smiled at the lighthearted comment. "You wanna play Danny?" He asked hopefully, beckoning with the game controller.

Robin placed his cup on the counter. "Actually, we've been slacking for a few days now. I think a training session would be in order. Danny, you can watch if you want."

Star squealed at the news clapping her hands excitedly, Beastboy groaned outright, Cyborg grunted, and Raven snapped her book closed. Danny watched with mild curiosity as the Titan's filed past him.

-----------------------------------------

Danny stood timidly behind the teens in the control room as Robin sat down in front of a large control panel.

"Um, we're kind of … outside."

Robin turned. "So?"

"So… is every inch of this island electronically enhanced?"

Robin turned back to the control board. He could see Danny's point- having lived as a Titan for so long he hadn't really thought about how an outsider would react to the complex systems Titan Tower employed.

"Pretty much." Beastboy said.

Robin watched as Danny moved closer to the shape shifter. Danny's innocent curiosity made him think. What was normal for Danny? A life devoted to justice sure wasn't. Robin had never really noticed how different his life with the Titans was. How… extraordinary. And the only reason he was any different from Danny was because of a choice he had made. Other than that… it could be anyone else looking out from behind the mask he wore.

Danny watched Cyborg barrel down the course. It was fun to watch the Titans being… well… Titans. They really were heroes, and Danny wasn't used to watching _someone else_ push themselves like this. Not that any training he had done with Sam and Tucker had been anywhere near this advanced.

The tops of several peaked rocks lifted to reveal a set of guns. The guns fired, the yellow blasts pelting the ground the teen was running on. Cyborg kept his eyes straight ahead. He pulled his arm forward, a confident grin dominating his features as the familiar transformation from hand to Sonic Cannon commenced.

Four shots and the guns were scrap metal.

"He's good." Danny commented.

Robin turned back to his job, moving a knob here, pressing a button there. It felt good to be back in the swing of things.

Robin finished giving the program instructions and decided to try at small talk.

"So, were did you learn to fight?"

Danny gave him a dubious glance. "Fight? What makes you think I can fight?"

Robin sat straighter, keeping his eyes on the Titan maneuvering through the rocky expanse below him. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"You're avoiding the question."

"Am not."

"See? We're not even talking about you're skills anymore."

"I don't have any skills."

"There was that flip you did at the park."

Danny's eyes widened slightly. "You still remember that?"

Robin growled slightly in frustration. "You changed the subject again."

Danny didn't answer.

Raven sighed at the elevating tension. She stepped forward just as Cyborg finished the course. "Robin, maybe you should go next." The young leader looked up at Raven questioningly before giving up his spot at the controls. The girl removed her hood and seated herself at the controls as he left the room.

She needed to ask Danny some things. The only problem was she was sure he'd avoid her questions just like he avoided Robin's.

"You really should just answer the question." She said.

Danny blinked. "Why? It's none of his business. It's not any of you guys' business what I can and can't do."

Raven lifted an eyebrow. "This is not your house, it's ours. If it's not too much to ask you might try giving us a little more respect."

That rubbed the teen the wrong way. "Respect!? I do give you guys respect! I stay out of the way and do what you ask and-"

"You're not staying out of the way for us, you're doing that for you. And you don't do what we ask, you _avoid_ what we ask.

"I don't avoid everything."

"Yes you do."

"I do not!"

"Name one time you didn't avoid the question."

Danny jabbed a thumb at Beastboy. "He asked what kind of pizza I liked and I said cheese. See, I didn't avoid anything." He crossed his arms and stared indignantly at the back of Raven's head as she bent over the controls. He hadn't even noticed Robin start the track.

Raven spared the boy a glance before saying dryly "Great. The one time you actually give a straight answer it's about food."

"Come to think of it," BB said, tapping his chin. "I think you did avoid that question too."

"Hey! Whose side are you on?" Danny demanded.

Raven turned in her chair, stood and brought her face inches from Danny's. "And whose side are _you_ on?" She hissed.

Danny's eyes blue eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't trust someone I don't know."

Danny's anger abated some at that. "You don't get it do you? That's the point. I don't want you to trust me."

Raven frowned. That was unexpected.

Cyborg took this moment to walk in, exited about his time. "BOOYA y'all!" the teen stopped when he saw Raven and Danny glowering at each other, their noses almost touching. "Okay, what's going on here?"

"Danny's busy not answering the questions." Starfire supplied helpfully.

"Hey! I am so answering questions! You're just not asking anymore!" Danny exploded, turning towards the girl.

That was Raven's cue. "Do you know what a halfa is?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped, his eyes widening. Slowly he turned back to Raven, pieces clicking in his brain.

"You had that in mind the whole time! You weren't really arguing, you just wanted to make me answer!"

"You're avoiding the question again."

"You were baiting me!" Danny exclaimed, ignoring Raven's claim. Rage built in the pit of his stomach. "You thought you if you could make me angry enough you could get me to tell you what you wanted to know." Danny snapped his eyes shut, afraid the burning rage within him would turn his iris's a glowing green.

Raven frowned harder. She had been trying to get Danny to talk, but the deep hurt she felt surfacing in the boy had not been what she intended.

"Danny…"

"Do you want to know?" He asked abruptly, with a quietness that was almost frightening.

"What?"

After Danny was sure he could trust his eyes to stay their normal light blue he opened them again. "Do you want to know why I left my hometown? It was precisely because of that."

Before Raven could ask what he meant Danny continued.

"Everything I did, everything I said was twisted to fit… someone's… needs. Every plan I made was shot down, every thing I did to free myself did the opposite. I was just a pawn in a twisted game of chess."

The Titans were mute, shocked into silence.

After a moment Danny continued. "You have no idea what it's like to live like that. To wake up and know without a doubt that you can try absolutely anything and you would still be trapped into obeying someone else's will."

Raven felt like she'd been nailed in the gut. She had a good idea of what that felt like… a very, _very_ good idea.

The silence continued. Robin made his way into the room, having long since realized something was up in the control room. The expressions on the faces around him proved his hunch correct. So did the next words.

Danny sighed. "I want to help you. I _am_ helping you. But believe me, the next time you try to squeeze answers out of me I'm bailing. I've gone hundreds of miles to get away from that and I don't need it here."

Cyborg stepped forward. "Danny, don't get all worked up. I'm sure she didn't-"

"Mean it. I know." Danny's eyes went to Starfire. "Just like I didn't mean to yell at you Starfire. I was mad. I'm sorry." Danny lowered his eyes, deflating somewhat. "Thanks for letting me watch you guys but I think I'm going to go back to the tower."

Danny kept his head down as he brushed past Robin.

Robin turned back to the others, a frown firmly fixed on his face.

"What happened?"

Raven watched as Danny disappeared from view. She knew a thing or two about emotions clouding your judgment. She had given in to her dislike for the boy and was ashamed of it. The only thing Danny had done to her was know more about the treat the Titans were currently facing than she did. Was that all? Was she that ready to come against the boy, just because he knew something she didn't?

"_You have no idea what it's like to live like that. To wake up and know without a doubt that you can try absolutely anything and you would still be trapped into obeying someone else's will."_

Raven turned her gaze to Robin. "I made a mistake." She said. "I pushed to hard and to fast, and now… now I'm going to have to fix it."

The empathic girl turned from the group and headed through the door in search of Danny.

--------------Amity Park, Illinois, Axion Labs------------------------------

"_Why'd I let them talk me into this?"_

Valerie held her head high as she walked through the familiar halls of Axion Labs. She couldn't help but be impressed with Sam's thinking skills. For a teenager the girl had a pretty good grasp on reality and how to plan ahead.

The current situation was evidence of this. After the subject of transportation had been brought to the table the three had busied themselves with finding a solution, and in record time to. If nothing else this had managed to lift the new team's spirits a bit. Maybe this wasn't going to be so hard after all.

Valerie stopped before a large metal door. The number 19 was lettered in a bold black on the steel surface.

"_So…"_ Val mused as she stared at the unmoving metal. _"Do I knock or just blast it in?"_

Before Valerie could activate her suit the door in question hissed open on its own.

Valerie stepped back in muted surprise as a lone figure stepped into the florescent light of the hallway.

The girl's eyebrows came together as she gazed at the person in front of her, not at all happy with being surprised in such a way.

"So what," She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to hide her nervousness. "Is Master's hiring midgets to guard his inventions now?"

The figure in question (who happened to be little shorter than Valerie herself, therefore the comment) cocked their head, amusement playing in the grey eyes as they swept quickly over the teen.

"Actually I don't work here." It –he by the sound of it- said. His voice was distinctly boyish yet also low and raspy as if it wasn't used often.

Valerie's eyes narrowed. She hadn't seen this boy before, she was sure of it. She would have remembered seeing someone so… peculiar.

What could be seen of the youth was normal enough; a pair of grey eyes, a slightly curved mouth and a patch of pale skin. But the rest of the boy was hidden in the folds of a heavy cloak which seemed a bit too big for the thin frame. This cloak kept Valerie from seeing much of anything else. And the eyes themselves… it seemed impossibly for someone to look so_ human_.

"I'm guessing you're here for something." The boy stated.

"What? Err- no, I'm just looking for my dad."

It wasn't unusual for Valerie to head to Axion after school or her shift at the Nasty Burger. That was the reason she had gotten through the gates so easily. Looking for her dad was a perfectly valid excuse.

Not true, but valid all the same.

The only problem was the weird dude in the hood wasn't buying it.

"If you're looking for damaged equipment you're in the right place." He said.

Valerie was dumbfounded. How did he know-

Before the teenager could gather her thoughts the boy brushed past her headed down the hallway, but not before saying one more thing to the startled teen.

"Second cabinet, bottom shelf."

Valerie blinked. "Huh?"

The boy turned towards her. "You don't have to believe me, but it would save time."

"Time?" she repeated. Talking to this guy was like whitewater rafting. You never knew what direction the boat would go.

"Yes time. You have four and a half minutes. Of course what you do with them is none of my business." With that the kid turned once more and made his way down the hall.

Valerie got that too-normal-to-be-real feeling again. The way the boy talked… it felt like he knew all the secrets of the world, yet didn't even realize it. It was… strange.

Part of Valerie wanted to chase him down and make him explain himself, but she decided against it. She was on a mission. She didn't have room for distractions.

The metal door dropped down after Valerie entered lab 19, closing her in the room. It wasn't a large room. A stainless steel table sat in the center of the space and stark white cabinets lined the walls, giving off the sterol air most professional places possessed.

Valerie found her eyes moving to the cupboard the boy had mentioned. Could he have meant that was where she would find what she was looking for?

"_Nah."_ Valerie slipped her hand into her pocket and drew out a small device. Out of all the inventions Danny's two friends had gathered, she had a feeling the Fenton Phones would be extremely helpful in the coming weeks.

Carefully the girl slipped the device onto her ear.

"This is Ghost Getter Number 4. I'm in the lab. Can you guys hear me?"

"_What the heck took you so long?"_ Sam demanded.

"Hey, it wasn't that easy. I had to _find_ the right lab first, remember?"

Tucker chuckled through the phones. _"I thought you said you knew Axion like the back of your hand."_

Val cocked an eyebrow, enjoying the light conversation. "I've just got one thing to say to that kid."

She closed her eyes as a swirl of pink energy swirled around her. When the light dissipated Valerie was covered in the black and red armor which had given her the name "The Red Huntress", the red tinted Plexiglas closing over her face.

"_And what's that?"_ Tuck asked suspiciously.

Val aimed an arm at the nearest cabinet and let a small gun form, charge, and blast in the matter of two seconds. When the smoke cleared the pad lock that had formerly locked the metal door lay melted on the floor.

"I have an ecto-suit, and you don't." Valerie quipped.

"_You should try not to cause too much damage."_ Sam advised. _"We don't want anyone to know you were there."_

Val's eyes popped open at Sam's words, remembering the one thing she had failed to do before engaging her suit.

Check for security cameras.

"_How could I be so stupid!"_

The hunter resisted the urge to swear and turned on her heel, aiming her wrist gun toward the corner of the ceiling.

"What the-!"

"_Valerie? What's wrong?"_ Tucker's asked, alarmed.

"No, I'm fine, it's… nothing."

It was nothing. Valerie knew Axion well enough to know that a room like this was not left unguarded, yet nothing but four screw-sized holes and a severed wire were left of the device she had been sure to find.

Someone had already disabled the camera.

Valerie turned back to the cabinet she had "unlocked" and pulled it open. The shelves were stacked neatly with closed metal tubes. This was definitely not what Val was looking for, but out of curiosity she grabbed one anyways. The Huntress twisted the lid off of the container, forgetting about what had happened to the camera in her haste.

Valerie tilted the tube so that the open end faced downward and placed her hand to catch whatever came out. A roll of paper protruded from the tube's mouth and Valerie quickly drew it out and pushed it flat on the table.

It was a blue print, and the bold lettering across the top revealed exactly which blueprint.

FENTON GHOST PORTAL

It made perfect sense. Maybe that was what was so wrong about it. Valerie hated how logical it was.

Most of the blueprints for Fenton inventions had been destroyed in the explosion, but there had been duplicates of the plans for some of the more successful inventions stored in another location. Of course these plans now belonged to Danny, but he was still a kid. He wouldn't legally own the inventions until he was eighteen. His legal guardian did until then, and his legal guardian was the owner of Axion Labs.

Vlad Masters.

Valerie didn't know exactly why that irked her so, other than the fact that Vlad was an evil conniving maniac.

It was funny in a way; Valerie had helped Danielle because the girl was human, and now she found herself hating Vlad for the same reason.

Well maybe not completely. Maybe because even though he was human Vlad didn't mind using people, manipulating his own _kind_… and most of all… Valerie herself.

At that moment Val hated the half-ghost billionaire almost as much as she hated Danny Phantom.

Almost.

"_Ghost Getter 4, have you found anything?"_

"Um, no." Valerie said, quickly putting the plan back where she found it.

She quickly went to the next cabinet. She couldn't help remembering that this was the cabinet the boy had talked of as she pulled the already unlocked door open…

"Aha!"

"Did you find it?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yes I did." Val said smugly as she reached down and lifted the object.

It was a very familiar piece of equipment. Valerie hadn't seen it since she upgraded to her current suit. Valerie lifted it and set it on the table, surveying the damage.

It was her old hover board.

Valerie was very glad her dad had left the piece of ghost hunting gear in Axion instead of disposing of it.

The equipment was actually in better repair than Valerie had expected. A closer inspection showed why. The overall structure of the board had been reformed. As to the actual mechanics Val wasn't sure, but it was obvious that the hover board had been heavily repaired since Phantom had destroyed it. As to the question of if the board could be restored, Valerie would have to trust that Tucker was as good with gadgetry as he said he was.

"Alright, I have it. Could you open the door now?"

As an answer the lab door in question hissed open, disappearing into the ceiling. Valerie ran out of the room, her internal clock telling her that she had hit the four and a half minute mark. She didn't know why this was important, but if the strange boy had been right about the cabinet there was a chance he had been right about the importance of being out of Lab 19 quickly…

The girl didn't bother to deactivate her suit. Actually it was smarter to wear it, seeing that more questions would be raised at Valerie Grey carrying off a piece of equipment than the Red Huntress.

It wasn't stealing the girl told herself. The hover board _belonged_ to Valerie; it had simply been stored at Axion. Still, the girl was wary of being caught. Even if she knew the board belonged to her no one else did.

Valerie couldn't help but brood as she made her way through the empty halls. Things kept changing. Val would have never thought a year ago that she would end up Amity Park's primary ghost hunter. She wouldn't have thought half a year ago that Danny Fenton would leave without saying goodbye. She wouldn't have thought _last week_ that she would give up her solo act for working in a group….

Some changes she hated, most of them actually, but the latter actually seemed like it could become something special…

The sound of footsteps brought Val's mind back to the present. Instantly the girl summoned her board and zoomed forward, trying to get away from…

"_Wait a sec…"_ Val stopped, listening intently for a moment. _"The person isn't coming from behind me. They're coming from in front of me!"_

At the moment Valerie made this important discovery the person in question decided to interrupt her musings by turning the corner, leaving nothing between them and the startled ghost hunter.

-----------------------------------------

Vlad frowned as he walked down the hallway of Axion. He was annoyed. Annoyed with the incompetent employees he was surrounded with, annoyed with waiting for pieces to fall into place, annoyed with the world in general…

Completing the next move in the intricate chess game Vlad Masters had created over the years had turned out harder than the half-ghost had anticipated. Who knew manipulating Spectra would be such a challenge?

Of course the ghost's weakness was blaringly obvious… she wanted beauty. With this it had been relatively easy to understand and therefore exploit the ghostly 'therapist'. Still, Spectra had given Vlad a hard time of it. It was only after allowing her to believe that it was _she _that was using_ him_ that Vlad had been able to persuade her to do his bidding.

Manipulation came easy to Plasmius. It was his main attribute; one that could be thought of as just as dangerous (if not more) than his actual ghost powers, and rightfully so. The villain enjoyed the process of backing his opponent into a corner and allowing for only one way of escape; his. He enjoyed the ease with which he could mold others to his plans.

It had not been so easy today.

Vlad knew better than to tell Spectra just how much of his scheme relied on her and her abilities. To do so would have been to cancel out the strides he had already taken.

The newly placed Pole Portals, the message through the ghost zone, buttering up the Guys in White… it would have all come apart if Spectra had refused to play the main role in Vlad's unfolding drama.

Vlad sighed. There was no remedying what had previously transpired now. He had done what he needed to do. Ultimately Spectra had agreed, as they all did. Now things could really get moving…

A slight whirring sound alerted Vlad to the fact that he was no longer alone in the hallway. Turning the corner the billionaire found himself face to face with…

Another empty hallway.

Vlad frowned slightly. He had thought he had heard something… actually he might be hearing it still, a low humming, just loud enough to mess with the man's sensitive ears.

Unwilling to worry himself further the man dismissed the thought with a shake of his head and resumed his walk down the hall.

If Vlad had looked up he would have noticed that the humming came from the engine of a surf-board-like contraption hovering a few feet from the ceiling.

Valerie didn't breath. Not that she could anyway. She was holding the wrecked hover board against the ceiling, and had pressed herself to it while lying flat on her working board, effectively turning her into a metal-and-Valerie sandwich. The ghost hunter waited a few seconds before pushing away from the ceiling.

"_Of all the people to run into…"_

Valerie's first instinct was to follow the man. She had some payback to attend to. But, even as she turned her board towards the departed villain she felt a check in her conscience.

Looking down, Valerie studied the still visible battle scars littering the silver metal of the wrecked board.

It wasn't about payback anymore, was it?

When she had asked the two teens for help, she had asked for a commitment to fight alongside her, to put aside school and social interactions and take up the burden of responsibility for the town they all loved. The other two had committed to a team right then, but had Valerie? Had she really decided to put herself down and do what was in the best interest of Danny's friends, her team?

Right now Valerie knew what was best for her. Revenge. She wanted to make Plasmius pay for using her like he had. She was going to bring him down…

Valerie also knew what was best for the team. They needed a board sure, but more importantly they needed trust. How was Valerie going to build trust if she deflected from the plan simply to fulfill her own needs? Was she willing to break the fragile bond being built just because she felt like it?

Val bit her lip. She knew what was happening. Yesterday Tucker and Sam had made a decision, and today, it was her turn. What was it going to be? The Red Huntress, or the Ghost Getters?

Slowly Valerie turned her board and began moving towards the gate once again.

----------------------------------

Damon Grey sighed, tugging uncomfortably at his collar. He was tired, and the new employee sitting next to him wasn't helping.

"And what does this do?"

Damon sighed. "That's the intercom. It lets the guards at the gate keep in touch with the guards in the building."

"And this? Wait I know! It's those surveillance screens the guards always sleep in front of."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Only in the movies Benjamin." He stepped closer to the nine screens the man was talking about. "Now in the real world nothing like that ever happens."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then wait… if nothing exiting happens to security guards why did I take this job?"

Mr. Grey stared blandly at the man. "Only you can answer that." He commented dryly.

Abruptly the screens filled with static. Damon quickly strode to the man's side, his eyes widening as he stared at the screens.

"What…"

One screen flickered back on. In the middle of the hallway shown stood a figure staring expectantly up at the camera. Damon narrowed his eyes and punched down on the button for the intercom as the figure waved at the only remaining security camera.

"Security, we have a breach, I repeat a security breach in section…"

------------------------------------

The boy sighed. He wished the guards would hurry up. It's hard to cause a distraction if no one seems to be distracted by you…

The boy had enjoyed his short meeting with Valerie. She had the headstrong air about her that he remembered from the book. To see her here… no matter how many time's he'd read about her it was nothing like the real deal.

The boy sighed. He didn't know what was worse, not knowing when the guards would appear or knowing exactly when they would.

The boy adjusted his hood, making sure he kept his face in shadow. No matter how well prepared he was for this he couldn't keep the adrenaline from racing through his veins. Any day now…

If the boy had a watch he would have checked it. It was high time the security guards…

"FREEZE!"

"Finally." The boy muttered before turning and charging down the hall.

"Wait!"

The boy ignored the shouts behind him, racing away.

-------------------------------------------------

Valerie was already near the gate when the alarm went off.

"_Val? What's happening?"_ Tucker yelled through the Fenton Phones.

I-I don't know!" the Ghost Huntress sped up, pressing herself to fly faster. After a few hairpin turns she found herself heading for the front doors.

"Tuck!" She yelled. "Front gate, PRONTO!"

The mechanical gate swung open as Valerie zipped out of the building and into the sky. After a while the huntress slowed, looking over her shoulder at the building. She could still hear the alarm singing its irritating little song.

"_Ghost Getter Four, are you alright?"_ Sam asked. Val tuned and flew away from Axion.

"Yes, I'm fine.

"_What was that?"_

Valerie shrugged. "I don't know. At least it wasn't me."

---------------------Jump City, California, Titan Tower-------------------

Night had fallen before Raven convinced herself to confront Danny. She knew right were he was. The entire day his emotions had been flowing out of him in a steady stream, acting like a perpetual blimp on Raven's emotional radar.

Raven took a breath before stepping forward onto the roof. It was already dark. She couldn't put this off any longer.

Danny sighed. His breath came out in a small puff, for once because of the chill in the air, not the chill in him. He watched the waves, feeling bare for some reason. It took him a moment to realize why. Danny had left his bags in Beastboy's room. He wasn't too worried Beastboy would peek, but he was afraid he might be getting to comfortable. at Titan Tower. He shouldn't start leaving his stuff around.

Someone cleared their throat causing Danny to turn towards the noise. When he caught sight of Raven he sighed. He had guessed this was coming.

"May I sit?"

Ah, the sitting question again. Robin had used it and now Raven was using it.

"It's your home. You can sit wherever you want." Danny winced at his own words. He hadn't meant to sound that rude.

Raven might have been offended if a wave of regret hadn't followed Danny's curt answer. She walked closer to the edge, standing beside the sitting boy. She didn't really feel like sitting anyways. It had just been an attempt to break the tension. It hadn't worked.

"I watched the sun go down from here the other day, but it was nothing compared to this." Danny said.

Raven glanced at the teen to find him gazing into the sky. Soon the Raven found herself doing the same.

Sometimes when you look up at the sky you see a black curtain seemingly held up by the stars like shining pushpins in the darkness. Other times you can almost see the vastness of space, the space between the many pinpoints of light, the very depth of the universe around you. This was one of those times when the enormity of the night sky was so evident. Raven looked back at Danny.

"I've always liked the stars. A lot." Danny said, still gazing into the heavens. "They make me feel… better somehow." The boy glanced at Raven. "Well, for big burning balls of gas anyway."

Raven raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Danny became serious. "It's been a while since I've really interacted with other people, even _before_ I got out of that place. I have to say, I'm not as good at getting along as I would like to be. Me blowing up like that was stupid and childish and I'm sorry."

Raven turned her eyes to Jump City. It really was beautiful at night. "And here I thought you were going to expect me to apologize to _you_."

Danny chuckled. "I don't think you would anyways."

The two lapsed back into silence. Danny gave Raven a sideways glance before looking down at his hands.

"Why don't you like me?"

Raven was a little startled by the question. She stared at the reflection of the sky on the water of the bay. "It's not that I don't like you personally. I'm just… not to keen on strangers."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing. I just know someone kind of like you. Bottom line, this person's kind of over protective and doesn't take well to people who can hurt me of another friend of ours."

"Good for him."

Danny blushed. "Her." he corrected.

Raven felt a smile tugging at her lips. "Oh."

The silence continued. Raven found herself growing uncomfortable.

"Do you remember when we went the Greene's house?"

Danny nodded.

"You knew exactly who Phantom was. You knew the boy was trying to protect someone and had a good idea of who it was, and you did the same thing I did; you scammed Jeremy into telling us what happened instead of coming out and telling us yourself."

Danny inhaled sharply. She was right. What right did Danny have to be mad at Raven for doing what he'd done? He might not like it, but he had used Jeremy. What right did he have to be mad at her for being… _like him_?

After an awkward wait the boy sighed. "I guess I'm a pretty big hypocrite, huh?"

Raven didn't answer.

"I know you just wanted to get some answers, and I don't blame you, really I don't. I'm just- I don't know-"

"Human."

Danny's eyes met Ravens. "Thanks." He whispered.

Another awkward moment.

"So, does this mean you don't hate me anymore?"

Raven might have rolled her eyes if she had thought it would make a difference. "This doesn't mean we're friends."

"I'll settle for not enemies."

Raven smiled, a slight, real smile. "I can do that."

Somehow the silence wasn't as heavy anymore. Somehow through the day, something had happened. Danny was still closed, still distant, but the wall he had built around himself was weakened, just a little bit. It was like the story of The Boy Who Saved Holland. The dams that kept Holland safe were checked daily for leaks, because one small hole would grow and grow until the raging waters behind the wall flowed free.

Except in Danny's case the hero wasn't the one who stopped up the hole in his defenses.

The hero was the one who _made _the hole.

Danny didn't trust any of the Titans, simply because it is impossible to truly trust someone else when you can't trust yourself.

This wasn't trust. This wasn't the end.

But it was something.

---------------------------------------------

**PLEASE READ THS! It's important:**

**For those reading I need to say one thing. We know the Fenton's are gone, but as to what exactly happened, I haven't really told you. Do you want to know? Well here it is!**

**Tomorrow (Danny Phantom Angst Day) I'm publishing a One-Shot companion piece to this story called "Intentions" in the Danny Phantom section. It will be a one-shot of what happened in Amity Park, sort of like a prolog for this story. That's why I got this out so fast; I wanted to put this up before "Intentions". So, if you want to know what happened, feel free to check out "Intentions" tomorrow! (I don't think that was a plug seeing it has to do with "Strong Enough"… oh well…)**

**Also, there is a poll going on my profile page. Feel free to put your two cense in. Thanks to the awesome reviewers and all those who are reading "Strong Enough!**

**Till next time!**


	17. Twenty Questions

**I'm back! I'm really excited for this chapter so I'll do this quick. I love my reviewers to death! I don't own TT or DP! I'm not dead!**

**Now on with the story…**

Strong Enough (a Teen Titans, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 17: Twenty Questions

--------------------------------------

RING!

Jarson rolled over in bed, a rough hand grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his ears.

RING!

The man grumbled, wondering thickly why they stuffed their heads under pillows in movies as he pressed the cushion closer to his scull. It didn't actually work, at least not for him.

RING!

But then the people in movies weren't dirt poor, low salary detectives who used the cheap Dollar Store brand of pillows-the kind that barely sufficed as a head rest in the first place.

RING!

He wished the phone would shut up. He was trying to sleep… The man's eyes shot open. Wait, phone? PHONE!

RING!

The detective scrambled over his unmade bed to snag the telephone off of the leaning bedside table and pressed it to his ear. "Jarson here." The man mumbled as he mentally attempted to wake himself up.

"_Ah yes my good man, I am glad to have finally reached you."_ A voice answered. The tone was a mix of amusement and irritation.

Jarson blinked and opened his mouth to answer, but the man on the other line cut him off.

"_I will cut right to the point Jarson. My town has fallen prey to tragedy in the last few months. A painfully short time ago a well known family was attacked; their home was destroyed, leaving but one survivor, a young boy named Daniel Fenton. The fiend responsible for this heinous deed was not a human. No sir, he was a more supernatural brand of villain."_

Jarson was now fully awake, the gears in his detective mind spinning. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked.

"_To prevent the same type of tragedy from happening again. Do not trust the one who calls himself Danny Phantom my dear man. He may seem harmless at first, but he is not what he seems. All I ask is that you keep this in mind during your investigation."_

The voice was smooth and oily, but held a fair amount of harshness. Maxwell glanced at the clock to find that it was only four in the morning.

Crud.

Jarson turned his attention back to the phone. "How do you know what I'm working on? How do you know who I am? Who are you?"

A loud click was the investigator's answer. The man's eyes widened when the line went dead, his mind spinning as he tried to understand what had just happened. Quickly the investigator pounced on his answering machine, pressing the left arrow to view past calls. Maxwell growled in his throat when the newest number read "restricted call".

Double crud.

Maxwell stumbled towards his living room. He clicked the lights on and stepped up to the sagging couch to grabbed his laptop, wondering thickly why the name Daniel rang a bell. He moved to the table and placed the laptop on it, sitting roughly on one of the three wooden dining room chairs. Jarson opened the classic black laptop and waited for the computer to warm up. It was time for a little detective work.

----------------------------------

Vlad smiled as he slammed the receiver down. He was sure the good detective would play his part. Smugly the billionaire walked further into his lab, his eyes on the picture on the screen. It was of this same detective during his meeting with Danny and the Titans, taken by the bug hidden in Danny's bag.

This was almost too easy.

Vlad walked closer to the screen, eyeing the other figures in the picture. One was a young woman, her hands held against her chest. Another was a young boy, his brown eyes clouded and a stubborn air to his posture. He was the same child portrayed during Skulker's fight with Daniel.

Vlad clasped his hands lazily behind his back, a thin smile coming across his face. Pawns were so easy to come by.

Slowly the man brought what looked like a watch to his face. After moment of consideration Vlad passed the black rings over his body, his image changing from a somewhat intimidating billionaire to that of a far more sinister being known through the Ghost Zone as Plasmius. It was usually best to deal with his ghostly minion when in this form.

Plasmius pressed down on a bold black button on the watch. Instantly a holographic image was produced slightly above the fake watch face.

"I assume you have reached your destination. You better have." Vlad snarled. He carefully inserted quite a bit of malice into his words, the best type of warning to use for the ghost on the other line.

"_I-I-I apologize once again for my absence, Plasmius. I will not fail in my task."_

Vlad kept his face unreadable, but inside he swelled with victory when the ghost stuttered his answer. Fear was oh so useful…

"You didn't answer my question Skulker." he snapped.

The holographic version of the hunter's head showed the green eyes widen at this harsh treatment.

"_We are in place."_

Vlad nodded curtly. "The message is sent." He stated. "You imbeciles had better play this right."

"_We will, Plasm-"_

The hybrid cut the transmission off before Skulker finished his sentence for two reasons. One, he didn't really care what Skulker had to say. Two, the cut off was the perfect way to remind Skulker he was on thin ice. With Plasmius's anger as a catalyst Vlad doubted the ghost would dare to disappoint him again.

Vlad turned away from the screen, his blood-red eyes narrowing.

"_Soon, child, very soon."_

-----------------------------------------

Jump City moved quickly through the day, its citizens enthralled in the normal activities of city living. The gray buildings and almost empty streets sat beneath the proud gaze of Titan Tower, safe beneath the structure's watch. A blue sky domed the city and the tower, fading into the sea somewhere beyond Titan Island. The sun had passed the noon mark, but was still shy of the horizon that would eventually hide it from view.

Above the people walking the sidewalk of Main Street, three figures stood atop one of the many towering buildings. One was a squat elderly man, looking sorely out of place so high above the street. His gray hair was made a small curlicue above his furrowed eyebrows, and he was dressed in a stiff sweater and tie. The unusual being leaned awkwardly against the grey concrete of a rooftop structure as he contemplated the figure crouching beside him.

"Harsh." He commented as the holograph of Plasmius disappeared into Skulker's arm.

The hunter ignored him in favor of calling forth his binoculars and peering through the red lenses at dark gray capital T sitting across the water from him.

The man didn't stop. "You're sure walking on eggshells hunter boy. Doesn't it bother you that your old buddy doesn't trust you?"

"Plasmius trusts no one."

"Aw, isn't that too bad." The third figure crooned. She looked human; she was tall and shapely with red hair styled into twin points. Her painted lips were currently twisted into a feral grin.

Skulker growled. His metal armor screeched lightly as he shrunk down closer to the ledge he was resting on.

"Awe, is little Skulker skulking?" The ghost cooed, dropping in closer to the scowling being, her forest green eyes shining with sadistic delight from behind her dark sunglasses.

"Back off Spectra," the metal suited ghost demanded. "Working with you is hard enough without your endless quips."

"Ooh, but it's so fun to mess with you!" The short man, Bertrand, exclaimed, waving a hand with an air of dismissal.

The female ghost sniffed haughtily and backed away from the hunter. No need to waste energy. There were bigger fish to fry…

"Has he set everything up?" She asked.

Skulker smirked at the question. "You will soon learn that everything is taken into consideration when Plasmius is involved. This will work."

Spectra licked her lips, her eyes still on the tower standing in the middle of the bay. She too was eager for the day's activities.

"I have to say, a so-called hero's misery is _so_ tasty, and _very_ easy to harvest if the Fenton kid is any indication." She said.

Skulker sighed. "You do remember you are not allowed to touch him until he leaves the Titans, do you not? I would not disappoint Plasmius if I were you."

Bertrand snorted. "Right, because we all saw what terrible torture he put you through." He stated sarcastically.

Skulker shrugged and turned back to watching the Tower. "The only reason I underwent minimal punishment was because I was needed," he stated with serious simplicity. It was true. If Vlad hadn't had immediate need of the hunter, he would have been much harsher when the ghost had stumbled through another of that infernal hooded human boy's mysterious portals and into Amity.

"Of course I'll follow along, though I don't know if Plasmius's plan for breaking the boy down will work. Who cracks because of a phone call?" Spectra whined.

Skulker frowned. "In Plasmius's words it must be the Titan's themselves that cause the whelp to run again. If it is not, he will still feel as if they might understand him."

Spectra smiled harshly. "Well, patience is a virtue." She chimed sweetly.

Skulker looked down at the citizens below, his mind on Plasmius's words. It was a perfect plan, but one that could only be executed with patience- meaning Skulker was stuck with Spectra and her imbecile of an assistant for the next few hours. The hunter lowered his binoculars. It was going to be a long day.

Skulker wasn't keen on working with the other two ghosts, or the stupid vultures Vlad had sent, but if everything went according to plan…

It would be well worth it.

--------------------------------------

Have you ever gotten the feeling that something big is about to happen?

Danny watched as a quick smile made its way onto Raven's face. The girl's dark energy dropped a chess piece on the square she had designated for it as she lifted an eyebrow at her opponent. This opponent happened to be Cyborg, who was shaking with the pressure. Danny leaned forward so he could get a better view of the chess board over Cy's shoulder.

Understandably Danny held a certain enmity for the game, but he was curious, and when Cyborg had challenged Raven to a chess match Danny had decided with grim determination that he should learn how to play. Maybe if he did he would be better prepared if Vlad appeared.

_When_ Vlad appeared.

It was only a matter of time before the fruit loop played his first move, and that one portion of Danny's mind that the Halfa refused to listen to kept telling him the longer he stayed in one place, the closer Vlad would be to finding him.

Not that he wasn't already found. With Skulker, the Pole Portals, and the whole rest of this mess, Danny wasn't too sure he was as safe as he hoped he was.

Danny frowned as he mulled over the whole problem. He had no doubt Vlad was behind the strange portals, but something didn't add up right. Why would Plasmius use a completely different design than one that had already been proven to work? That seemed to leave too much to chance. Yet, Danny's instincts were on high alert today, and nothing he did could calm him down.

Danny's mind hurt from the stress. It just didn't add up. So much emphasis had been placed on Jump City, and not just since Danny had gotten there. It was like a prepared arena, a destination designated by Vlad, a…

"A chess board," Danny mumbled to himself.

He glanced over at the large window of the main room. Robin and Beastboy were nowhere to be found, and Starfire was watching something on the Titan's humongous television.

Danny moved his restless eyes back to the game.

Raven's knight, covered in the strange black light of the girl's power moved forward two spaces and one space to the left, taking out Cyborg's misplaced Bishop. The big teen sucked air in shock as a look of challenging satisfaction graced Raven's ashen face.

"Oh, man!" Cy groaned.

Danny leaned further over the metal shoulder in curiosity. "But can't the rookie go straight?" he asked.

"It's actually called a rook not a rookie, and yes, but how does that help?" Cyborg blinked his one human eye. "Oh."

He slid his piece up, replacing Raven's knight. "BOOYAH!" he sang, an oversized grin on his face.

Danny chuckled nervously as Raven pinned him with a hard glare.

As the game progressed Danny's mind went back to the strangely coincidental occurrences that had brought him to the Tower, and also the fight with Ember- most of all her frightening words. Danny didn't like to admit it, but some of what she had said… well it worried him.

"_You think you ran here? Ha! You were herded here by Plasmius!"_

Danny frowned harder at the memory. Cyborg groaned in annoyance as Raven decreased his number of pieces by one.

"How do you do it?" He asked suddenly.

Cyborg turned his head to peer at Danny. The boy's face had gone serious, a wary determination in his eyes and a firm frown on his young face.

"Do what? Get rid of one of Raven's pawns?" Cy asked, keeping an eye on his dark teammate as he pushed a piece forward. "Like this."

"Don't get cocky." Raven warned, relieving the board of another of Cy's pieces. "Check." She said.

"No, how do you get into your opponent's head? How do you turn the tables when you're behind?" Danny explained as Cyborg quickly moved his king out of danger.

It was Raven who answered. "You have to start playing with your head. If you keep playing defense, you're only postponing the inevitable. You have to know how to attack and watch your back at the same time."

Danny nodded, still serious._ "So, that's what I gotta do."_ He thought_. "Turn my defense into offense; do something unexpected to throw the Fruit Loop FOR a loop.."_

Unfortunately, the only action Danny deemed unexpected enough to shock Vlad was actually agreeing to become his son or something. Not really what Danny planned on doing.

Danny moved from his spot by Cyborg to the open space behind the couch and began to pace to keep up with his mind. How was he going to throw Plasmius a curveball? Assuming it was Plasmius that was causing all the mayhem in Jump. Danny's eyebrows came together as he moved back and forth across the floor. What was he going to do?

Starfire turned her head to see Danny pacing hurriedly behind her. His head was lowered and his eyes were hard. Star looked to her friends for help only to find that Raven and Cyborg were watching Danny with the same confusion Starfire felt. Concern radiated from the girl, growing stronger with each step Danny took. This was not normal… was it?

"Friend Danny?" She asked hesitantly. "Are you… unharmed?"

Danny's eyes fell on the girl. He shook his head, as if to shake off whatever was troubling him before smiling apologetically at the alien.

"What did you say? Sorry, I kinda spaced out."

Starfire's concern did not leave. "I wanted to know if you were alright. You have been walking back and forth at a considerable pace, and I wish to know that you are not ill."

Danny's smile widened. "I'm fine." He said. "I'm just thinking."

"Some thoughts." Raven muttered. "You're creating a trench in our floor."

Danny' glanced at the floor before glaring lightly at the empath.

Star's worry left her somewhat. She understood how deep thoughts could leave a friend void of peace. Danny's behavior was nothing new to her.

"What is it that you are thinking of?" Star asked politely.

Danny looked at the girl, his eyes asking why she wanted to know. After a moment of expectant silence Danny shrugged. "Just stuff. You know." He said carefully.

"I do?" Star asked, surprised.

Danny chuckled, reaching up to scratch his neck. "Um… maybe not. I just have a lot buzzing through my head. Mostly about this whole ghost thing."

"What do you mean?" Cy asked, looking up from the chess game.

Danny scratched his neck harder. "It's just…. Well some things don't make sense. There's more going on here, more than you or even I know. I just have to figure out what it is."

"And you must figure it out yourself. It is… your responsibility." Star said quietly.

"Well, yeah, that's exactly what it's like. I know these ghosts. I _have_ to figure this out." Danny dropped his hand and pushed it into his pocket, looking quizzically at the alien. "How did you know that?"

Star smiled sadly. Her red hair dropped over her shoulders as she lowered her eyes to study the sofa seat. "You are very much like Robin in things like this." She admitted. "He always believes he must go through things… alone. That he must save everyone. Everyone but himself."

Danny frowned at Star's suddenly dull composure. Raven and Cyborg traded glances as Danny moved around the couch and sat a respectful distance from the green-eyed girl.

He cleared his throat. "You don't like it when he does that, do you?" he asked.

Star's eyes stayed down. "No." She replied.

"You know you guys are really close. The Teen Titans, I mean. Sometimes you seem… more than just a team."

"We are more," Cy said, catching Danny's serious mood.

Star nodded in agreement. "We are… a family."

Danny looked into Star's eyes, wondering if he should smile or leave his face blank. He had a sinking feeling that what he was about to say was applicable to far more than Robin's situation.

"A guy will do anything for his family," he said quietly.

Star looked straight back at him, her innocent green eyes gazing boldly into Danny's guilt- ridden blue ones. In the background Star's favorite show (World of Fungus) came to a close. No one noticed.

"If he will do anything for me… then why will he not allow me to help him?" she asked.

Danny frowned. He should have an answer to that. This was the reason he hadn't let Sam and Tucker come with him. This was the reason behind most of his heroism… it was a good reason, wasn't it? Then, why couldn't he remember it?

"I don't know. I just know that it's easier to live if you believe the only person hurting anyone is you."

"But it is not!" Star exclaimed. "Robin is hurting no one! He is strong, and good, and-!"

"And the more of those things he is, the more responsibility he feels. He knows right, and because of that he has to bear the wrongs of everyone else. I don't really know Robin well enough to say but… I do know he cares. I know that the more he cares for you, the harder he will try to keep you safe from danger. I know that he knows the parts of himself that are… not quite nice… better than you ever could. I know that if he cares like I think he does, he would do anything to keep you safe from that. From himself. That's just the easiest way to do things." Danny didn't know what made him say so much. Most of what he said seemed to come from thin air, or from observations Danny hadn't known he'd made, but most of it came from him. For some reason, he felt the need to explain himself to the girl.

"Even if it is easier, it is not right," Star stated reproachfully.

Danny sighed. "No, I… I guess it isn't."

The doors opened to admit the two Titans who had been absent to this point. Beastboy made a beeline to the couch, pouncing over the back and landing between the hybrid and the princess. "Wazzup dude, dudette?"

Robin followed the changeling down the steps and into the room. He placed a stack of papers on the yellow countertop, oblivious to the many stares the teens were giving him.

Beastboy glanced around, noticing the heavy air in the room. "Why are we all staring at Robin?" Beastboy whispered loudly to his new found friend.

Danny shushed him quickly, but not before the leader realized something was off. He turned to find the eyes of his team and their guest on him.

"What?"

"Yeah, what?" Beastboy echoed testily. He didn't like being left out of this type of thing.

Danny attempted an innocent smile. "Umm…"

A loud ringing brought Robin's attention from the sweating teen to the telephone sitting on the end of the counter.

Robin left the papers where they had been as he pressed the receiver to his ear.

"Titan Tower, Robin speaking." He spoke into the phone.

Beastboy Grinned at Danny before jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the stacked papers. "See those? Those are the ghost's we wrote about. Robin was really impressed, so much he didn't even yell at me for forgetting to tell him my communicator got scrapped during that fight with Ember."

Danny tuned to look at Robin and saw the leader's face relax. "Nice to hear from you Jarson. What can I do for you?" the teen asked. Danny frowned. Wasn't Jarson the detective dude Jeremy Greene's mother had hired? Was the kid okay?

Robin's face went stiff, his eyes mysteries behind his mask. Danny didn't need to see his eyes. His mother had worn goggles for most of Danny's childhood, not to mention Valerie's completely covered face, and the teen was proud to say he was reasonably good at deciphering expressions without being able to see the eyes of the one he was talking to.

Needless to say, everything Danny gleaned from Robin's expression was shooting off warning alarms in the teen's head. He knew something bad was going to happen…

"Yes, why are you asking?" Robin asked, apprehension making itself heard in his voice.

Robin turned to see Danny trade glances with Beastboy before staring warily back at Robin and the phone.

"Not much." He answered, turning his back to Danny and lowering his voice considerably. "We've been waiting for him to come out on his own. Why?"

Danny's already suspicious attitude was forced up a few levels when Robin's voice became too low to hear clearly. This had bad news written all over it.

Suddenly, Robin turned to the other teens, his hand clasped over the phone receiver. "Do you mind if I get the room to myself for a few minutes?" he asked,. His tone left no room for compromise, making it more of an order than a question. Danny began to panic.

The crime fighters filed out of the room, leaving Robin alone with the phone. Cyborg was somewhat sour for being interrupted from his chess game, Beastboy was simply confused, and Starfire and Raven were both worried (although Raven hid her anxiety much better than Star did), and Danny…

"HEY!" Cy called after the boy as Danny sprinted down the hall. "WHERE ARE YOU GOIN'?!"

"BATHROOM!" Danny yelled before disappearing into the shadows of the hallways.

"Dude, I'm beginning to think he has a bladder problem." Beastboy said.

Raven rolled her eyes. "First off, I really didn't need to hear that, and second, you're the last person to start pointing fingers."

Robin focused his attention back on the phone.

"We already know Phantom and Danny tie together." Robin informed.

"_Robin, something happened. Danny Phantom isn't the moral emblem we were hoping for." _the investigator said, pain in his voice.

Robin paused, wondering what Maxwell was talking about. "Look, if there's something I need to know, I'd prefer you come out and say it."

More silence. Whatever Jarson was trying to say he was having a hard time with it. _" Is there a place we could meet?" _the investigator asked finally. _"This isn't the kind of thing you break over the phone."_

Robin's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. "Jarson. I realize you may not think I can handle whatever this is, but please keep in mind that I do not enjoy being treated like a child. I can handle this."

"_Phantom is wanted for murder in a town called Amity Park."_

Robin spent the next few minutes trying to recuperate from the sudden hit his brain had just taken. Thoughts buzzed through his head, his mind making millions of connections Robin was wishing weren't right.

"WHAT!?" Robin shouted once his voice finally caught up with his mind.

"_I'm sorry Robin. After what happened with Jeremy this thing hit me pretty hard too, but that doesn't mean it's not true."_

"Danny wouldn't have lied about that." Robin exclaimed, trying desperately to keep his voice level. "He keeps his own secrets, but he would never keep a criminal's!"

"_I would think this could be considered one of his secrets. Robin, what I'm seeing here… believe me when I say I wish this wasn't so but the victims-"_

BAM!

Robin's eyes widened as the line went dead. He dropped the receiver to the ground, his eyes on the telephone. Green smoke was billowing from the device, the smell of melting metal and plastic filling his nostrils as he backed from the destroyed communication device.

Robin whirled, his staff instantly in his hands.

Phantom's green eyes burned into the leaders, his right fist giving off the same green smoke the phone was. The specter's white hair fell into his eyes, but did nothing to block the burning intensity in the ghost's gaze.

"Sorry to be rash, but I've got a feeling I had to do that, for… personal reasons." The phantom said. His voice was commanding and deadly, echoing around the room in a way that could have unnerved the fighter below him. It didn't. Instead, it infuriated him.

Robin brought his Bo Staff forward with one quick practiced movement, his mind rushing to prepare itself for what was bound to happen next.

Phantom watched the Titan's staff extend. He almost missed Robin's frantic grab for his communicator with his free hand, but just caught the subtle movement.

Danny didn't know much about the team's communicators, but he knew enough to know that if Robin used his things would get very complicated, very quickly.

Thinking fast, Danny hastily threw an ecto-blast at the Boy Wonder's hand, knocking the communicator away from the fighter. Robin watched the communicator spin away and clatter to the floor.

Looking up quickly Robin gasped, thrusting the hand holding his staff forward and spinning the weapon to deflect two bright green blasts from the turned-vicious ghost before him. Robin growled. Served him right for giving the guy a chance.

Phantom swooped down, triggering his intangibility in time to nullify Robin's swipe with the Bo, and moments later the Boy Wonder's steel toed boot. Robin swiped again, exasperated by his misfortune of having an opponent that could phase through things.

Phantom quickly released his hold on intangibility and plowed into Robin, using his shoulder to ram the leader to the floor. Robin lay there a moment, his lungs protesting from their lack of air. His eyes focused on the white haired boy in time to realize the ghost was holding his burning chest with one hand and held the other in a fist cocked far past the ghost's frowning face, promising pain for its target.

Robin looked down to find his weapon was still held in his hand. Unfortunately, Robin's arm was by his side, held down by Phantom's uncomfortably cold knee. Robin quickly retracted the weapon, carefully turning it till one end faced Phantom's side.

"Sorry." Phantom breathed before slamming the fist down.

A sickening crack was heard. Robin turned his head to see Phantom's fist planted firmly amidst cracked pieces of gadgetry, most yellow and black. His communicator, Robin realized. The vicious punch had been meant for the communicator, not the Boy Wonder. And had Phantom said sorry? What was he, some sort of undead schizophrenic?

Unwilling to muse further in his current predicament, Robin activated his staff. The weapon shot out to its longer length, one end hitting the floor, the other Phantom's side. The ghost cried out in pain as the sudden impact threw him forcefully off Robin and into the room's wall. Wincing, Danny pressed his hand firmly against what would soon be a small, if not wickedly sore, bruise. That had _hurt_!

Robin's now extended staff fell onto the teen who caught it deftly while rolling to his feet, grinning as he realized he could touch Phantom anytime the ghost could touch him.

Phantom took to the air, hands held out in surrender. "Look, I just want to talk to you!"

Robin's eyes narrowed. "And that's a great reason to destroy my communicator." He snapped, slipping a freeze disk into his hand. Cyborg was going to kill him for wrecking the operation center.

"Yes it is! I can't have five people attacking me at once!"

Robin centered his body, his staff extended and his freeze disk ready. "I see. I wonder, how will you do with just one?"

Danny had barely any time to react as the disk came flying at him. He quickly turned intangible, letting the disk pass harmlessly through his being. He turned, his eyes wide as he took in the Titan's now frozen wall. "Nice trick," he complimented.

A kick to the gut was Danny's answer as he returned to the ground. He phased through the floor with a gasp as Robin leapt toward him. Landing where the ghost once was, Robin prepared himself once more.

Phantom flew through the Titan's television, planning to plow into the Boy Wonder as he had before.

This time Robin was ready. The moment he heard the tell tale fizzing sound that accompanied Phantom's departure from the inanimate object, he leapt to the air, twisted and forced his foot down towards the black and white blur.

Danny twisted onto his back the instant Robin moved, his eyes widening when he found a black and silver boot flying towards his middle. He pulled his hands forward, grasping the teen's ankle moments before the blow could land. He felt a sense of accomplishment sweep over him as the leader's eyes widened. Danny changed his position in the air, letting gravity pull Robin toward the floor while maintaining his hold on the teen's ankle.

"WILL YOU _LISTEN_ TO ME!?" Danny yelled at the warrior dangling from his grasp.

"WILL YOU _LET GO_ OF ME!?" Robin yelled back, his other foot snapping up and kicking Danny smartly in the side of the head.

The ghost rolled out of the hit, shaking his head to try and clear his doubled vision.

Robin landed upright on the couch, quickly flipping over the back and reaching for his weapons once again.

"Alright ghost, how about a game of twenty questions."

Phantom's eyes narrowed. "Ten for me, ten for you?"

Robin grinned cunningly before coming at the floating being once again. Swing, block, retreat, and the two opponents were once again at a standstill.

"Sure." Robin answered, as if he hadn't just attacked the seething Phantom. "But you just used one of your questions."

Phantom attacked first this time. He flew straight through Robin, turning tangible only when the young man's back was to him. Danny swung a leg, hitting Robin mid turn and forcing the fighter to complete a side aerial to keep himself on his feet.

"Living first." Danny offered, his hands igniting in green ectoplasm.

"Why, thank you." Robin's almost playful attitude ended as he charged toward the ghost, roaring in rage when his attack went right through Phantom's body.

He turned back towards the ghost, his glare killer. "Why are you wanted for murder in Amity Park, Illinois?"

The question hit Danny harder than any of Robin's attacks prior. They blamed him? They blamed him for… no. How? Why? When had they… how could they…

Phantom slowly sank to the ground, unbelievable pain covering his face. Robin's eyes widened as the ghost fell to his knees, shock written all over his being.

Danny's mind was at a standstill, his heart a burning pot of emotion. It was pure instinct that kept him from transforming right then and there.

"_Of course they blamed you!"_ a part of Danny's being crooned. "_It IS your fault after all…"_

Robin stepped closer, his anger giving way to curious concern as Phantom began to breathe hard. Heck, Robin didn't even know Phantom _could _breathe!

"Phantom!" He called firmly. Phantom's ravaged eyes met the Boy Wonder's and he began to shake his head violently. "Phantom, I need an answer!"

"I-I-I would never-" Phantom stuttered. Robin reached the ghost and grabbed hold of the being's shoulder, hoping to keep the youth locked into tangibility. To his surprise he discovered that the boy (for this close Robin realized that was all Phantom was) was shaking.

Phantom's eyes burned into Robin as he attempted to form a reasonably coherent answer. "I never- I wouldn't- didn't-"

"Phantom, how does this involve Danny? Why didn't he tell us?"

It took Phantom's stricken mind a moment to realize Robin didn't know Danny and Phantom were one and the same. "I didn't- Danny. Danny Fenton. I-"

"Make sense Phantom!"

"They blamed me? I tried! I tried, but- but I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't… I never meant for them to die! I tried to PROTECT THEM!"

"Who?" Robin demanded.

Phantom's being wracked. He was crying Robin realized.

"I never meant to-"

Even in the Halfa's torment, some practiced part of him kept the boy from spilling his identity right there. Unfortunately it didn't protect much else.

"I never meant it Robin. I was trying to protect them, but he killed them. They died."

"Who killed them? Who died?"

"Family…" Phantom muttered.

Robin grabbed the ghost's other shoulder and forced the being to look at him. "Who's family?" He demanded, Phantom's sudden breakdown giving him a sense of urgency.

The haunted glowing eyes rested on Robin a moment before falling to the ground. Phantom was beaten. He didn't even realize he was answering the question, or count to see if Robin had exceeded his ten question limit. He dutifully relayed one word, one word that changed everything.

"Danny's," he whispered. "Danny's family."

----------------------------------------

**Please tell me that worked. This one took forever because I wanted to get it just right. I want to know how many of you were expecting that? Vlad is an evil person.**

**With that said, I can't wait to finish the next installment of Strong Enough. Hope I kept you entertained!**


	18. Gone

**Guess who? It's me, Pat, with the next chapter of SE. That was reasonably fast. I have to warn you guys, I have a big test coming up in school, so I'm going to be too busy studying my socks off to reply to review or update for a while. Sorry… I also want to apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes in here. I am trying to get better at that, but I didn't have much time to proof read so… yeah. **

**I want to refresh your memory just a bit, to keep everyone from getting confused. The singed book is one Danny found in the a bunch of rubble in Amity Park, and he admitted that it belonged to his mother. Maxwell Jarson (he's not in this chapter, but just to be safe) is a private investigator hired by Mary Greene, the mother of a boy Danny Phantom saved.**

**I took some creative license with how I presume Raven's powers would work on Danny. It just made sense… and fit with the story. Hope it's not too far fetched.**

**I hope you guys like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anybody. Isn't that sad?**

* * *

Strong Enough (A Teen Titans, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 18: Gone

* * *

Have you ever slept in? Life seems so simply lying there, warm and comfortable in your bed. You relish the one moment of fuzzy comfort before the hectic formalities of daily life overtake you once again. For a moment, as you lie there, the world just feels… right.

Then, if you live in a family like mine, you get a bucket of freezing cold water in the face.

That shock of being thrust straight from comfortable ignorance into painful awareness is exactly what Robin felt when those words left Phantom's mouth.

"What?" he whispered, stunned.

Phantom didn't answer, his white hair blocking his closed eyes as he slumped in Robin's arms. Robin's eyes passed urgently over the specter, searching desperately for any hint that the ghost was lying. He found none.

He really wished he had.

Robin stood staring at the ghost for a moment longer. Danny's own words exploded in his head:

"_I trust him to try to do the right thing. I trust him to fight with everything in him. I trust him with my life; but the lives of others, the lives of the people I care about? I just don't know anymore."_

"WHAT?" he yelled, his grip tightening. "What did-?"

With the last of his strength Phantom lifted his eyes to Robin's. Those glowing eyes… There was no lie in them, just truth. Raw ugly truth.

Facts clashed with facts in Robin's mind, puzzle piece falling into place. Danny was alone. Danny was scared. Danny protected Phantom. Danny barely talked about his family. Danny was an orphan!? Danny's family…

Killed.

Murdered.

No.

Robin's chest constricted and his body stiffened, the information leaving him to struggle unrelentingly with facts he hadn't wanted to know.

It was all so clear now.

Oh God, it was all so clear.

How?

Why?

Killed.

Murdered.

Dead.

Danny…

"I'm sorry." Phantom whispered as Robin's grip on the ghost faltered. "So sorry."

Robin's hands fell from the glowing shoulders. He took a step away from the specter, then another. He- this was… this was just… like…

The door to the room slid open.

"Robin!"

"Dude!"

"MY TOWER!!"

Starfire plowed into her friend, the rest of the Titans close behind. Her arms clasped around Robin in a bone shattering hug. "Robin, we heard many sounds of battle. Are you undamaged? Unharmed? Unwrinkled?"

Robin's eyes moved from the girl as she recited every word beginning with the prefix un currently in her vocabulary to the motionless ghost kneeling a few feet away. The harsh dazed look was slowly leaving Phantom's eyes as the ghost struggled to cope with the information he had recieved from Robin.

Beastboy was the first to approach the ghost, made bold by the fact that the last time he'd seen the specter Phantom had saved his life. "Dude? You okay?" Beastboy looked from the broken spirit to his leader. "Robin didn't just, like, attack you… did he?"

"No I didn't. He attached first." Robin gently pulled Starfire's arms away and moved to stand in front of the ghost.

"Phantom…" he said fervently, "I, I need answers. We can try to help you, but I need to know why- how- Danny…"

Phantom's eyes met Robin's, the glowing green pools still raw with pain. "I-"

Danny's eyes widened as his brain caught up with what had just happened.

He had been framed.

He had broken down.

Robin had asked who had died, and…

And Danny had answered.

Oh no.

"Phantom," Robin warned, not at all liking the look of panic in the boy's eyes.

Danny inhaled out of habit, his mind numb with the shock. They knew. If they knew… Vlad would… could… Danny shook his head. He had to get out of here. He had to think… he couldn't handle this…

"Sorry," he said again as his form lost its color, falling quickly through the floor.

Robin's eyes widened, diving for the ghost. Phantom was gone before he landed. Robin rolled to his feet, his mind in a blind panic. "Phantom!"

He turned to Raven. "Find him!"

Raven hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"OF COURSE I'M SURE!"

Raven nodded once at the livid Teen Wonder before crossing her legs into a lotus position a few feet off the ground, closed her eyes, and chanting under her breath.

The tension in the room mounted as the team waited for Raven to do her thing.

After a few tense minutes Raven opened her eyes.

"I can feel him," she said. "But I can't pin down his location."

"What!?"

"His emotions are panicked and sporadic, bouncing off of everything and making it hard to decipher more than his general location. He channels emotion differently than a human would, I think. With practice I could learn to track him, but there's no time."

"Well, what's his general location?"

Raven clamped her eyes shut once again. This time she didn't bother to open them before answering. "He's somewhere between here and Jump."

Robin turned his eyes to the window, staring out over the water. His friends watched him apprehensively.

"Uh, dude," Beastboy began, "what happened in here? Why was Phantom here in the first place?"

Robin ignored the question, his mind elsewhere. "Where's Danny?" He demanded, turning to his team.

"What do you need Danny for?"

Robin's impatience escalated. "Just ANSWER me!"

Cyborg stepped forward, palms held out in an attempt to calm the Titan down. "Whoa man," he said, "just chill and tell us what happened."

Robin took a breath. How was he going to tell them this? Should he talk to Danny first? Why hadn't Danny told them? What if it was a lie? Should he inform his team of something that might turn out to be false? Robin's jaw locked in resolution. He had to tell the Titans. When he confronted Danny about this he was going to need his team's full support, and he WAS going to confront Danny. There was no way he was going to pretend about this sort of thing.

Robin sighed. This wasn't going to be pretty. "Raven, do you remember what I said about there being a bigger picture concerning Danny? That he wasn't just some kid that got sick of his family?"

The empath nodded, the rest of the teens waiting for Robin to explain.

"Well… I was right."

* * *

Danny flew off over the water as quickly as he could, switching the semi-transparency of his intangible form into complete invisibility, his instincts screaming at him to get as far away from the Tower as possible.

Sure it was wrong to shoot the messenger, but no one said you couldn't run from him. And the message Danny had just received…

The ghost allowed himself to plummet through the air, his invisible-intangible form plunging seamlessly into the chilling water of the bay, the shock of the sudden cool helping to numb his injured mind.

They thought it was him. They thought that he had killed his family. Of course, Amity Park didn't know he was a Fenton, but that didn't matter.

It seemed as if nothing did anymore.

They thought… that he was… a… murderer.

Danny let himself slow in the water once he thought he was far enough from the Tower, a tinge of discomfort making its way into his mind as he realized his inactive lungs would never remind him to come to the surface to breath in this form. His ability to forgo breathing was creepy in a way Danny had learned not to dwell on, but seeing the alternatives, Danny didn't see much wrong with mulling over his half-dead status at the moment.

The ghost turned slowly, keeping himself a good distance from the Tower while searching for the shore. He didn't want to be Phantom right now, he wanted to be Danny. He wanted to be the one they had loved…

Danny's parents never knew of his double identity. The Halfa had always fought to keep Danny Phantom from them, and had never considered the possibility that they would die before he could muster up the courage to face them with the truth.

With all the fights and threats, Danny had always assumed he'd die first…

That was an assumption he was paying for right now.

Danny pulled himself out of the water, moving his invisible self through the rocks, then houses, and soon buildings. He just had to get away…

minutes later Danny zipped into an empty alleyway deep in Jump City and let go of his ghost form, slumping down against the brick wall behind him and dropping his head into his hands the moment the white rings of light finished passing over his body.

Amity had pinned the blame on Danny Phantom. Why?

Danny groaned, his head still in his shaking hands. Because he was a ghost, that's why. He should have expected it. Amity Park always blamed him for things like this; it was no big deal. He shouldn't have panicked… He could handle this.

At least that was what he told himself. To bad it was a big fat lie. These weren't just civilians, this was his FAMILY…

Being blamed for kidnapping he could cope with. Vandalism was no sweat. Robberies came with the territory. But… murderer?

Danny grimaced as an image formed in his head, an image he wished he could forget. It was a face very like his, yet completely different. It was smiling at him, fangs visible, red eyes gleaming with sadistically perverted glee, white flames licking the air where his hair should be.

Insanity incarnate.

"_I guess murderer isn't too far off either,"_ he thought tiredly.

Danny raised his head, staring at his shaking hands. Human hands, he realized. The hands of a child; a helpless hurt and confused child. Why had these hands ever thought they could hold up the world? That they could play the hero? Could he ever call himself a hero again?

"_Does it even matter anymore?" _Somehow, that thought scared him more than anything.

Since when did he let himself think things like this? He was supposed to be strong, the one that people could count on to be there. He didn't have time for this! Danny rose from his spot, anger suddenly breaking him out of his misery. He wasn't going to just sit here! He had to fight this; he had to do… something…

Danny's rage faded away once he realized he really didn't know what he was going to do in the first place.

Danny walked from the alley into the bright light of Main Street and turned to squint at the horizon. Amazingly he could still see Titan Tower in the distance. Sighing Danny turned his back to the T shaped tower and began to make his way through the thin crowd. Did he go back there, to the Titans? There would be questions, worse ones than last time. The Titans would treat him differently. They might send him back to Vlad.

Danny clenched his jaw. He should have never gone to the Tower in the first place.

What did he do? He knew even the Teen Titans couldn't find him if he didn't want them to. Invisible was his stinking middle name! That brought Danny one more question, one he was surprised he had to ask; did he want to be found, or did he want to stay lost?

Danny lifted his eyes to the bright blue sky they mirrored hoping beyond hope the answers would suddenly fall from the heavens and land at his feet. At least he wasn't in Titan Tower right now. He didn't want to deal with Superheroes while this was buzzing through his head.

Danny's eyes widened, realizing he (the Danny him) would probably be discovered missing soon, if he hadn't yet. Whatever he wanted to do he'd have to do quickly.

The boy kept walking, barely noticing that his worn sneakers were now treading on grass instead of payment. Danny dropped into the first seat he found without thought, his mind trying desperately to make a decision. He had made this decision once before, when he left Amity Park. Why was this one just as hard?

Danny looked around himself. Surprisingly he recognized where he was.

"_Okay, I have grown to appreciate most forms of irony, but this is just ridiculous."_

Danny was in the park, the green grass and towering trees surrounding the yellow bench he was sitting on; the very bench he had been sleeping on when the Titans found him he realized. Talk about things coming full circle…

A few people were walking along the park sidewalks, others playing games or feeding birds, life going on despite the resent panic felt by the blue eyed boy on the bench. The posters for the new homeless shelter were still nailed to the various trees. Funny, Danny had never thought of them after going to the Tower. Not that he had ever really considered going there anyway; he had simply said that to keep the Titans from going lets-look-after-the-helpless-homeless-boy on him. To bad it hadn't worked.

Danny sighed. What was he going to do? The Robin had probably given the others the 411 by now. They were smart; they might be able to use the knowledge of his family's deaths to discover his identity.

Somehow the Titans (or anyone) finding out about Phantom seemed like the worst thing that could possibly happen, like a slap in his loved one's faces. His parents had never known who he was, so to ever tell anyone who he was ever again would be like saying that he trusted them more than he had trusted his family; that they meant more to him then his family had.

They didn't, not the Titans, not anyone. No one could ever mean as much to him as his family had… did.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut. What was he going to do?

Danny's troubled thoughts were rudely interrupted as the temperature of the air around him and through him dropped, sending a chill through his body. Gasping at the sudden cold Danny's eyes sprang open in time to watch an unwelcome puff of mist escape his mouth.

"Oh no," Danny said out loud. "Not here. Not now."

The teen tensed instantly, his eyes alert and searching as they moved over the people walking the nearby sidewalks. Moments before he had seen them as mere citizens. Now they were suspects, pieces in a morbid game of guess who. Which one was the ghost?

Danny's search was cut off when a transparent hand snaked up through the ground, the slender fingers encircling Danny's ankle and catching hold of the boy. The teen gasped as his body tingled with intangibility at the touch, an alarmed yell all he could produce before he was swiftly pulled down through the ground.

No one heard him. No one noticed the raven haired boy's disappearance. But then, Danny thought bitterly as he struggled blindly to break away from his attacker, no one had noticed him for a long time.

* * *

"Robin, slow down. It'll be alright." Cy said.

"It won't be alright. I can't believe I didn't pay better attention. It was so obvious something was wrong, and I didn't even notice." Robin seethed, storming through the maze of hallways, the rest of the resident team close at his heels.

Starfire sent Robin a worried glance, floating to keep up with the masked teen's frantic pace. "Do not blame yourself for this Robin. You did not know."

"Yeah," Beastboy said. "it's not like Danny gave you tons of hints anyways."

Robin stopped in front of the restroom, the rest of the Titans gathering at his elbows. "He gave enough."

Robin knocked hard on the bathroom door. "Danny?" He called, unwanted apprehension filling his mind. "Look, I know you might be busy, but we need to talk. We _really_ need to talk."

Silence.

Robin knocked again, harder this time, frustration evident in each hard rap of his gloved hand. The longer they waited the thicker the tension. Finally Robin took several steps away from the door, his mouth in a thin determined line.

"Rob," Cy began, "maybe I can-"

With a yell Robin flung himself forward, bringing his weight against the door feet first, sending the metal door caving to the ground with a resounding clang.

"-try." Cyborg finished, eying the late bathroom door. "Never mind."

Robin wasn't listening. No one was; their eyes were on what they found in the bathroom, or more precisely what they didn't find.

Danny wasn't there.

Robin growled in his throat. "I thought you said he was in here!"

"That's were he said he was going!" Cy argued defensively. "How would I know he wasn't here?"

"Friends, we must not begin the yelling! We need to find our friend!"

Robin took in a deep breath, doing his best to calm himself. "Sorry Star. Should we check the roof?"

Beastboy chuckled lightly, his own version of calming down. "Yeah, he's gotta be somewhere. I mean it's not like he could just disappear." Four heads snapped in Beastboy's direction. The shape shifter gulped. "Right?"

Robin turned to Raven. "Do you think Phantom had time to-?"

The empath shook her head. "I don't know. I told you I couldn't get an exact location. He could be anywhere."

"But, Phantom couldn't have grabbed Danny! That's impossible! No one moves that fast!" Beastboy exclaimed.

"This is a ghost we're talking about Beastboy. I doubt our definition of impossible fits his." Raven stated grimly.

Star sighed worriedly. "Now what must we do?"

Robin squared his shoulders, resolve in his very posture. "We find him."

"Well how-"

A familiar alarm tore through the tower, the whining warning call startling the Titans out of their conversation.

"Terrible timing," Cyborg commented.

Robin grunted in agreement. "Titans! Move out!"

* * *

Danny found phasing through solid ground terrifying in an exhilarating sort of way. It was unnerving to plunge through the ground itself, realizing that the crust you were passing through had seen the human race live and die for thousands of years and yet had not been heavily effected. The mere thought that anyone or anything could easily penetrate something always thought to be so concrete and unmovable would send chills down most people's spines.

The ghost and their captive emerged into a cavern of sorts housed somewhere under Jump City, the specter throwing the boy mercilessly towards the floor of the cave.

Danny's intangibility ended when the ghost tossed him, leaving the boy painfully solid when he crashed to the floor. He lay for a moment in the newly made crater before a haggard groan escaped him. He rolled slowly to his side, unbearably aware of the stinging pain of his resent fall and the sharp sourness of the spot Robin's staff had nailed him earlier.

"_Man that smarts."_

Once Danny stopped seeing stars on the inside of his eyelids he peeked out at his surroundings, wincing as he sat up, carefully ignoring his aching ribs.

"Where are you?" He called into the surrounding blackness. He had meant to make his voice strong and demanding, but his pain deadened the effect considerably.

No one but Danny's own echo answered him. Shakily the hybrid pushed himself onto his knees, and finally his feet. Danny pulled one foot back and brought his arms forward, forming a tense battle stance. Frowning in worried displeasure he strained his eyes into the darkness around him, his eyes beginning to adjust to the lack of light. A silvery giggle lifted the hairs on the back of his neck, causing him to turn to try to find the source of the sinister laugh.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" He yelled into the void, his fear quickly turning to rage. "Come out and fight you coward!"

After a few terrible minutes Danny began to make out shapes in the darkness. A jagged rock here, a sloping wall there, a…

Danny's breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of a person standing on top of a slab of rock, their hands stretched far apart, standing in what Danny took as an aggressive stance. Quickly, before the figure could attack, Danny brought his hands forward, glowing green. He aimed the blast at the figure, not bothering to switch to his ghostly persona as he prepared to fire.

There, in the sudden glow of green light, Danny noticed three things. One was that the figure was a girl, possibly his age or younger. She was painfully slender, unmoving as she stood, arms outstretched. The second thing he noticed was that a bunch of wilted flowers sat between her spread feet, their dead petals littering the stone she stood on. The third thing Danny realized was her color. She was the same color as the rock she stood on- not just her skin, but her clothing, hair, even her eyes.

Danny let his breath out in relief, lowering his hands and allowing the green glow to subside some.

"_Way to go Fenton, you almost attacked a statue."_

Danny chuckled at himself, the built up tension leaving him lifted his hand once again, this time to use as a light. He walked closer to the girl, noting her thin frame and stone face, her hair frozen to one side as if the wind had blown it there.

Danny's eyes traveled curiously down the stone figure to the base. He noticed a plaque just below her feet, and bringing his glowing hand closer he read the writing at the writing.

TERRA

A TEEN TITAN

A TRUE FRIEND

Danny frowned. "What…"

Something moved behind the teen, causing him to forget the stone girl for a moment.

Danny reached inside himself, finding that part of him he deemed not human and bringing it to the surface in the form of a white ring of light. The light illuminated the cave as it moved around its creator.

Danny Phantom stepped forward with much more confidence than Danny Fenton had, using his glowing hand to study his surroundings. Slowly he made his way through the underground room, the unmoving air leaving the room incased in silence. Danny didn't see anything.

Suddenly colors exploded in front of Danny's eyes as something solid smashed into the back of his skull. Danny fell to the ground with a thud, stunned by the surprise attack.

Danny's instincts kicked in and the Halfa rolled quickly to the side, the sound of something slamming viciously into the ground where his head had been ringing in his ears.

Danny's eyes narrowed in the darkness as he sent a green plasma ray at the noise. His shot went wide, but the light from the blast fell close enough to Danny's attacker to shed light on her face, the red eyes and softly glowing shadow-like body becoming visible for a moment.

Danny's eyes widened as the glow of his blast faded. "Spectra?"

A hand shot out of the darkness, latching onto Danny's arm and forcing him back against an outcropping of rock.

"Well," the ghost cooed out of the darkness. "Aren't you the smart one?"

Danny struggled against the grip digging into his arm. When he couldn't break the brutal hold he changed tactics, firing an ecto-blast point-blank into Spectra's chest. Danny smiled in satisfaction when the ghost's grasp disappeared into the shadows. As soon as the darkness closed back in Danny switched to invisibility, ducking behind another outcropping as Spectra regrouped.

"_Okay, no more using ecto-energy as a light. That gives away my position. I need to know where she is before she knows where I am. I would just phase out of here, but I want to know why she's here. Did she use the Pole Portals too?"_ Danny peered into the pitch black of the cave, hoping to catch sight of his opponent. _"What is taking her so long? I didn't think she could go this long without mono-logging. Maybe I underestimated her."_

"You know, hiding doesn't help you Danny."

"_Or not,"_ Danny thought, smirking.

"I couldn't say I'm surprised though. You do seem to have developed a knack for hiding from your problems. You know Danny, stuffing things can be very unhealthy," Spectra stated professionally. "Why don't you tell me all about it?" She offered cheerfully.

"_Not on your afterlife, woman."_

"I hear your family's gone. How are you handling that?"

Danny gritted his teeth together. Was there anyone who didn't have their nose in his business?

"Pretty bad I'd say," Spectra continued in mock sympathy. "I mean it was enough for you to hand over Amity Park over to us ghosts on a silver platter."

Danny clenched his fists. _"Calm down. She's just doing what she's always done; finding my insecurities and picking at them until I Spectra, it's going to take allot more than that to break me this time."_

"Unless you always meant to leave them. You had your fun playing hero and then you left when it got too hard. Don't worry Danny, no one blames you. You can't win all the time; though you did pick a pretty lousy time to lose."

Danny winced. Don't crack, she was just talking… her voice was nearer he noticed. If he had a heartbeat it would be elevated.

"But then, you know that. Losing is normal. I told you this before; you care too much what others think."

Danny peeked around the rock, but saw no one. Danny scowled. He needed a plan. He wracked his brain for a strategy… and then suddenly he had one. Smiling again Danny squeezed his eyes shut concentrating hard on the move he was planning, seeing the power used over and over with his mind's eye.

"Really kid, who cares if Amity dies because you left? You need to work on healing your own wounds. You don't need the pressure right now. It's not like they expected you to save them anyways."

Danny's concentration was thrown off by Penelope's words, but he quickly regained it. _"Come on, I can do this…"_

"You know, maybe after this is all over you can come talk to me about it, privately. I know, you're probably still mad about me trying to kill your sister, but she died anyways, so, water under the bridge right?" Spectra said, her offensive words floating through the blackness.

Danny had to physically keep himself from charging her; she was going too far saying things like that about Jazz. The words gave Danny the boost he needed as he squeezed his eyes shut, his form splitting as he concentrated, forming a second white haired ghost to his left. As soon as Danny was done duplicating himself he let himself sink through the ground, leaving his copy in his spot.

"I have all day Danny. You have this chance, why not use it?"

Spectra heard a small sound behind a nearby rock, her grin spreading as she approached it. Slowly, carefully, she slinked up to the spot, tensed like a coiled spring, ready to jump.

She pounced swiftly, her hands digging into the unsuspecting Ghost Boy.

Spectra's grin faded. The grief, the misery in the boy she held… there wasn't enough. Either he had been minutely affected by his family's deaths or this wasn't the real... Phantom waved in Spectra's face before blinking out of existence. Spectra stared into the dark, her red eyes wide. How-

A green blast hit Spectra squarely on the back, earning the Halfa a surprised grunt from the psychiatrist.

The real Danny followed the first blast with a flurry of others in the shape of green energy disks from somewhere near the caverns ceiling. He knew better than to let Spectra get her hands on him again, meaning his best bet was attacking from a distance.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what are you doing here?" He demanded.

Spectra zigzagged through the blasts, trying her best to fly up towards the boy, but his barrage of ecto-rays managed to keep her back. "Oh please, I'm in Jump for the same reason everyone else is. To catch you kid. You are quite popular you know."

Danny would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been busy tossing plasma-rays at his adversary. "I'm flattered really, but somehow I doubt all this mess was my fault; especially if it's _you_ saying so."

Spectra laughed outright at that, and as much as Danny wanted to say otherwise the ghost's hysterics made his stomach drop. Danny stopped fighting for just a moment, his green eyes lit with uncertainty.

A moment was all Spectra needed. The female ghost turned upwards, speeding at Danny. The Halfa, unsure where she was in the darkened room was caught off guard when the ghost latched onto him from behind.

"Let… me… GO!" He shouted, trying to twist out of Spectra's grasp. The ghost squeezed tighter, satisfaction on her face. Now THIS was how grief was SUPPOSED to taste.

"You really think we attack for the humans Danny? We attack for you! If you weren't there we would never leave the Ghost Zone."

Danny struggled against Spectra's grip, doubt building in his gut. She was winning…

"NO!" He yelled.

"Face the facts kid. It's pretty obvious, even to someone with your grades."

Spectra released one of Danny's shoulders only to clamp onto his chin, wrenching his head back and to the side to face her.

"You want facts Danny? I'll give you facts." Spectra dropped his head, keeping Danny pressed against her with her other arm as she fished for something somewhere on her person. When she found what she was looking for she waved it under Danny's face. Danny squinted at the object. It was a paper, visible only because of his and Spectra's natural glows.

Spectra threw the paper down to the ground before reestablishing her vicious grip on Danny's chin. Danny began to struggle again, but it was no use. The longer Spectra held him the weaker he got.

"It's always been you," she hissed in his face. "It always will be. You're a danger to those around you, boy, yet you let them get close."

Spectra felt Danny weakening. Just one more push…

"The only reason your family died," she whispered in Danny's ear. "Was because you existed. If it wasn't for you, they would still be alive."

Danny's eyes widened. No. She couldn't- that wasn't-

Spectra frowned when she felt something new building in Danny. It was anger, deep and penetrating… but it wasn't directed at her. It was directed at Danny.

He… already believed her?

Danny stopped squirming, defiant green eyes looking to Spectra's apprehensive ones.

"I know that, but I know something else, something you don't. You're right, I failed them, I failed me, but it won't happen again. Next time, I'll die before innocent people do."

"You're still spouting that hero nonsense? Why? You've already lost." Spectra brought Danny's face inches closer to her own, relishing in the doubt and pain tingling through her at his touch. "You can't fight the inevitable."

Danny's eyes flashed, the image of someone else who had said those very words flashing through his brain. Wrong thing to say.

Danny opened his mouth, but instead of a retort, an ear shattering wail broke loose from the boy, directly at Spectra. The ghost clasped onto Danny for one more terrifying moment before being ripped away by the magnitude of Danny's power. The sonic waves kept coming, pushing the ghost back, rocks shattering at the sheer force of the green waves and large hunks of earth falling to the ground. Beneath the rampage a statue made of rock stared unmoving at the battle, rocks falling around her form.

Spectra found herself pinned against the far wall of the cave by Danny's attack. She stared at Danny, eyes wide with fear as the waves kept coming. Vlad hadn't said anything about this…

Finally Spectra became intangible, letting the waves of energy push her through the rock wall. She had done what she had been told to do, she had planted the seeds, and left him the paper. Now, she just had to wait. The earth shook as Spectra raced upward through the ground.

* * *

Danny didn't quit his wail until the last of his energy was spent, which wasn't too long seeing Spectra had managed to drain him quite a bit before he had snapped. Danny finally stopped, dazed. The dizzy sensation didn't leave when the white rings passed over his being. Danny didn't even remember falling back to the floor of the blackened cave through his headache.

Danny struggled through the flying dust towards the only solid thing he could find that hadn't broken because of his onslaught; the statue. After he reached the strange girl's feet he sat down with a thud, holding his aching head in his hands. He was sure going to hurt tomorrow.

Danny sat there for minutes at a time, leaning against the statue's base, his mind whirling as he let his energy rebuild. How much of what Spectra had said was true? He knew he shouldn't believe anything that came out of her mouth, but some of her words he just couldn't not believe. Weren't these the same things he had been telling himself for months?

Danny let his eyes glide over the darkness, hoping Spectra was gone for good. He didn't have much fight left in him…

Danny's eyes strayed to the paper Spectra had dropped. The white of the page was clearly evident in the blackness. After Danny had caught his breath he stood, walking unsteadily towards the lighter spot on the floor. Danny bent down and grabbed the paper, squinting at the writing. He couldn't see the words through the dark. He was really getting tired of having no light down here…

Danny lifted a human hand and concentrated a green glow in his palm, bringing it towards the paper.

DANIEL FENTON

WANTED BY PLASMIUS

MUST BE CAPTURED _ALIVE_

REWARD

Danny winced. He wanted to do so much more, but in his state a wince was all he had the energy for.

She had been telling the truth.

The only reason Jump was in trouble was because Danny was there.

Danny had meant what he'd said; he would die before he let an innocent person. If he meant this (and he did) why would he stay in Jump City if his presence put people in danger?

He had to protect them. He had to leave. It was his duty.

And he couldn't handle it if he failed again.

* * *

Twenty minutes later a ghostly figure drifted through the Tower window. The hollow green eyes moved over the room, noticing the melting ice on one wall and shattered communicator on the floor.

No one was there.

Danny smacked himself for wishing someone was.

The ghost drifted down to the foot of the couch, lifting the two bags stored under the coffee table. He brought them to the counter, placing his white one (ghost bag) on a stool and slinging the strap of the green bag (clothes bag) over his shoulder. Danny looked around once more before taking out a note he had prepared before he entered the Tower and placing it on the yellow counter beside the ghost profiles he had made with Beastboy.

A part of Danny didn't want to leave, at least without saying goodbye, but he knew this was the best way. He had a feeling the Titans would try to talk him out of it if he waited for them to show.

Danny reached a gloved hand into his clothes bag, drawing out a singed book titled THE THEORY OF THE ALTERNATE DEMENTION AND ITS INHABITANTS. Carefully he opened the cover to read the words printed inside.

_Dear Mads,_

_You know I can be forgetful and miss the things that are most important to me sometimes, so I'm giving you this to remind you that no matter how much of a fool I am, I love you, Jazz, and Danny, more than anything. I know this book doesn't make up for missing our 19__th__ anniversary, but maybe it will remind you that fool or not, Jack Fenton loves his wife._

_Your incompetent, yet loving husband,_

_Jack_

Danny couldn't help but smile. He remembered trekking through half the Ghost Zone and making enemies with an undead sheriff for this thing in an attempt to save his parents marriage. He sighed. Memories like that… he just really wished they weren't just memories anymore.

Danny placed the book gently by the counter next to his letter.

It was time to say goodbye.

No one saw the specter's form as he flew away from Titan's Tower. He flew low, as if burdened down with shame, but he flew all the same.

The sun reached the horizon, threatening to let the darkness close in on the city of Jump, oblivious to the turn of events this action had set up. No one knew Danny was gone…

Danny couldn't decide if that made things better, or so much worse.

* * *

_I'm just not strong enough to learn to be okay,_

_I paste on a smile, that's the only way_

_That I can keep going on, keep acting strong,_

_With no hope inside, there's nothing keeping me alive,_

_I've already died…_

_Give me a truth that can't be moved,_

_Cause I'm done with trusting in what I see,_

_Please remember as I go,_

_I'm not running from you… I'm running from me._

Exert from "Already Died" by Patience Memory

* * *

**Plot twist!**

***cries*****… I think I just got myself depressed. Poor Danny's leaving to protect others… it seems he does that allot doesn't it? I wonder what the Titans will do when they realize he's gone? And what about the alarm, who set that off?**

**For you who didn't catch it, Danny's mother's book is the present Jack gave her in the DP episode "Prisoners of Love". We never saw what the present was so... why not?**

**Okay, I have to ask, am I rushing the story to fast? Could you see this happening, or were the different reactions OOC? I would like to know if I pulled this off well or if I could've done better. (and what I could've done better)**

**Also, the poll in my profile is still open. If you haven't voted yet, feel free to!**

**I want to thank all my reviewers, including anonymous reviewers. You guys make my day! **

**I've gotta start studying like the wind now. Till next time!**


	19. Complicated

**Um… hope you had a Merry Christmas?**

**Honestly I'm somewhat afraid to post this after leaving you guys stranded like that for so long. I had a lot going on… school tests, my mother had surgery, Thanksgiving, evil plot bunnies that wouldn't let me write what I wanted, then I sort of forgot what I was going to do here, and then I remembered, and then I wrote it out on another computer that wouldn't let me post, then I tried to rewrite it on this one… not to mention that I get most inspiration from music and the only thing on the radio has been Christmas carols. Understandable, but still.**

**This thing was so dang hard to write it's not even funny. Not that it ever was funny… but yes. I'm STILL not happy with how it turned out (its mismatch and tacky in places, time elements off, and I don't know if I got the characters right), but I just got fed up with this uncooperative chapter and posted anyways.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, Danny Phantom, any elements of Nightwing in here, or the reference to Horton Hears a Who.**

* * *

Strong Enough (A Teen Titans, Danny Phantom Crossover)

Chapter 19: Complicated

* * *

The T-Car peeled down the streets of Jump City, keeping pace with the three flying Titans. Robin watched Raven's shadow skip fluidly over the street, just a bit ahead of the T-Car.

The teen was slumped in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest and his head turned toward the T-Car's window, away from Cyborg. He would have looked like a pouting child had he been anyone but Robin. As it was, he managed to make the pose look somewhat intimidating. Cy shook his head. How did he do that?

"It's going to be alright man. We'll find out where Danny went. It's possible he didn't even leave the Tower. We already went through this once and he turned out to be on the roof. We shouldn't sweat it." Cy said.

"We'll figure it out later. Right now we need to focus on our mission." Robin stated, his voice somewhere between deadpan and a growl. "We can't let emotion compromise our job."

Cyborg winced. Robin was right. The Titans had to put their own personal needs aside for the sake of the city, the same way they had when Slade had made Robin his apprentice, or when Terra turned against them. They were heroes. Heroes held the weight of everyone's well being, not just there own. Robin knew how to do that. That was what made him the person he was.

Cyborg thought of Titans East, of fighting his friends for the good of everyone.

He guessed that made him the man he was also.

Cyborg's thoughts were interrupted when his communicator activated. Shifting his left hand further up on the steering wheel Cy brought his arm to his face as Raven's shadowed features appeared on the screen.

"Something's off." She stated.

Robin leaned over Cyborg's shoulder to see the girl. "What do you mean something's off?"

"You know how there's a calm before the storm?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm feeling that. Something is going to happen."

Robin frowned. "How soon?"

Raven's head jerked up. The feeling was growing; that pulsing throbbing energy, vibrating through the air. She focused on flying. It was tranquil, dormant, and at the same time wild. She probed her way into the disturbance, trying to break through the fake calm and find the reason behind the apprehension she felt.

"Now." She breathed.

"Raven? Are you alright?"

The Empath opened her mouth to answer Robin when it hit her. Like a wave of ice it slammed into her consciousness, numbing her mind and cutting into it simultaneously; cold, strangling, deathlike, miserable, desperate…

Evil. There was a twisted smiling evil slamming its fist into her, the energy of conflict bursting, hitting, sinking deeper, breeding despair, all accompanied by death… by intolerable coldness…

She fell.

"Raven!" Robin yelled as he watched her plummet.

A green Pterodactyl swept into view, followed by Starfire. The dinosaur caught Raven's cloak in its talons, the dark blue material snapping tight and allowing the shape shifter to lower his teammate to the ground.

Robin and Cyborg were out of the T-Car as soon as the vehicle stopped, rushing towards the fallen heroine.

"Raven!"

She didn't answer. The empath grasped her head with her hands as the chill spread through her. She fought, years of practice coming into play as she forced the icy dead fingers out of her mind. She breathed in and out, opening her eyes slowly as she forced the consuming cold away.

Blurry figures came into focus, the shapes of her friends cutting through the cold haze. Starfire was saying something. Raven stared at her trying to find sounds to match her words.

"-my friend! Please tell me you are alright! Please say the words!"

Raven groaned. "The words."

The Titans let out a collective breath, relieved.

"Raven, what happened?" Robin questioned.

Raven frowned. The cold was still there, lapping at the edges of her consciousness, but she could block it now.

"I told you. Something's wrong…"

"What?"

Raven let Cyborg help her up, slowly letting the cold back in, following the feeling, trying to find the source.

The line broke, chaotic familiarity bouncing back to the empath, the frozen emotions teasing her, sending her brain millions of locations, tons of dead ends, no true direction. It was… inhuman… and familiar, though it had never been this strong before.

"Ghost… whatever I'm feeling, it has to do with a ghost. Or two ghosts." Raven remembered the familiarity, the cold light seeping through the twisted glee. She'd felt that before…

Beast Boy turned to the leader. "So what do we do?"

Robin was silent, his mind busy. The Titans were on call; if he split the team it would elevate the chances of injury. If he did nothing whatever was upsetting Raven would have free reign.

A whining filled Robin's ears. He frowned. What was that?

A metal disk struck the ground mere feet away from the team.

Robin's eyes widened as he recognized it.

"MOVE!"

Raven threw up a shield, the black power incasing her and Cyborg in a dark dome.

Robin threw himself away from the disk, his feet pounding against the asphalt. He gathered himself and dove for cover.

Starfire and Beast Boy raced into the air, speeding towards the open sky, away from the device.

_BOOM!_

Hot green-white light irrupted, sending smoke and debris flying. The sound of the explosion rang in the team's ears, the heat pressing them back. After a moment of tense silence the team came back together.

Raven and Cyborg had faired best, the shield holding up against the explosion, and, to Cyborg's relief, acting as a blockade for the T-Car.

Starfire sank to the ground, a green bird landing soon after and morphing into Beast Boy, his eyes wide.

Robin's kneeling form stood, shrugging the fire resistant cape which had saved him from the brunt of the blast into its normal place.

"Dude! What was that?!" BB screeched.

Robin turned to the team. "It was the same type of explosive the ghost Skulker used in his fight with Phantom. Be ready." He ordered, his tone deadly.

The Titans fell into place, muscles flexed, hearts pumping, ears alert.

A rocket exploded behind the group, and then another and another, each explosion edging closer to the battle ready Titans. Raven stretched out her hand, causing the next rocket to fade black, stopping it before it reached them. Raven spun the projectile around and let it go, sending it flying where it came from.

The missile hit a building, the impact sending a spray of dust into the street. The Titans braced themselves, waiting for their foe to show itself.

The dust settled down, falling away from the metallic form floating above the debris.

Fiery green eyes took in each of the fighters, noting their positions and stances. A grin made its way onto the large metal face.

Skulker sank towards the ground.

The Titan's recognized their foe easily. He looked different then he had on the screen at the tower, but the same too. He had the same metal body, green eyes and malicious grin, but a camera could never capture the malevolence he seemed to leak into the atmosphere.

The ghostly hunter held out a hand, a sphere popping from his wrist and into his palm. "Hello prey." He said, his voice deep and menacing. "I suggest you start running."

He tossed the device at the team, allowing it to roll to a stop feet from the nearest hero.

Robin tensed. "Titans! _GO!_"

The sphere began leaking gas immediately, quickly overtaking the heroes. The smoke curled around their running forms, the green tinted vapor making its way into their lungs.

Beastboy was the first to give in. He coughed as he slumped to the ground, his thin chest wracking as he attempted to push the gas out of his lungs. Raven, having already been weakened, was next, falling beside him.

Robin held his breath when the smoke reached him. He groped through the vapor, his lungs feeling heavy with the need for air. The green mist stung his eyes through his mask as he pressed forward.

Something heavy slammed into his side, causing the boy to give up most of his precious clean air as he was thrown to the ground. He managed to snap his mouth shut before the gas began affecting him, focusing on finding what hit him. He would have pounced on the nearest moving object if it had not been for two things. One: he might actually hurt one of his own teammates, and Two: he couldn't see the nearest moving object. It might have even been one of his friends that had hit him. He couldn't see, and they couldn't either.

The hero closed his eyes, allowing his senses to widen, to see where he couldn't. He had just begun to make out the hulking form behind him when a heavy object crashed into his skull. Though he managed to curb the grunt he wanted to make when he hit the ground, he couldn't stop the inhale of air when the follow up kick slammed into his side. The toxic air began its job immediately, working itself into his system as his mind slowed. A part of him told him to fight it. The rest of him slipped further into nostalgia as he began to cough. Chuckling weaved through the green smoke as Robin slipped into unconsciousness.

Starfire heard Robin fall. She would have screamed for him had she not been fighting her own battle with her misty foe. She coughed as the green smoke stung her lungs, her eyes watering as she looked frantically for an escape. The chuckling had subsided… There was no sound, no friends to give the girl guidance. The smoke thinned for a moment, allowing the alien to see the open sky. Instantly she was shooting for the spot, dead set on reaching the heavens. If she made it into the blue expanse perhaps she could spot her friends…

Another thud was heard, followed by a groan. Cyborg was down.

Star raised herself higher in the air, struggling to push the cloud of poison away, small panicky breaths pulling the vapor into her system nonetheless. Her floating form slowed, soon coming to a complete stop. Star looked down, trying to push herself farther, and found that she couldn't. Startled, the alien drew in another sharp breath as she began to sink, unwanted fog creeping into her dulling mind.

She could not stop, she must be victorious! Her friends needed her… the city needed her… she must… stay… awake…

"I usually handicap my prey in a much more satisfying way, and by satisfying I mean painful, but this has proven just as satisfactory."

The gas swirled around the girl, noting dully that the smoke was beginning to wane as she listened halfheartedly to the voice. Was this how she would be destroyed? By silent trickery?

"You are quite an unusual prize. The poison took much longer to bring you down than the rest of the whelps."

Something flickered in Starfire's mind. Faces, dreams, wishes, hopes, the things she had always held dear to her pushed through the fog crowding her consciousness. Resolve cemented in her mind as she groaned, trying once more to break the spell of the air she was breathing. She shuddered in the air, rose a few feet, and dropped the rest of the way to the ground, her head aching as she crashed into the cement.

Sometimes resolution just wasn't enough.

A bulking shadow made itself seen over her, the metal face twisting into a smile as the hunter anticipated what was to come. "Too bad you are not the focus of this mission. Perhaps next time child."

-----------Three Days Later-------------

A boy pressed his face against the foggy glass of the store window, straining to hear what the pretty blonde reporter was saying.

"_Things seem to be falling apart at the seams here in Jump City California, home of the Teen Titans. I'm broadcasting live from downtown, and as you can see from the destruction behind me this city's superheroes had one heck of a fight yesterday. The Chief of Police would not comment on what seems to be a new group of enemies, but eyewitness accounts from nearby pedestrians raise the question, what is this new threat plaguing the streets, and are five super powered teenager's enough to stop it?" _The woman smiled again, as if she was commenting on the weather, not the evil that had been wrought in the city._ "It seemed some sort of villain hunter ran various Titans through a number of traps throughout the city, although none of this has been confirmed by the Titans themselves. Property damage, although no where near the Titans high, has been extensive. Unconfirmed reports have uncovered the possibility that at least one of the young heroes was injured in the battle. Back to you Greg."_

The black haired teen frowned in worry, staring at the newscast for a moment before turning away from the store front window. _"That was the same time you left."_ He thought_. "There hasn't been anything new on since then. It worked. Stop worrying about them. The ghosts have probably left already. There's no reason to worry. They'll be fine. Don't worry."_

Danny was worried.

"_Which of them got hurt? They were fighting Skulker weren't they?"_ Danny sighed. He needed to stop believing himself. He smirked. No problem. He'd done that for an entire battle once.

…Sorta.

The smile was gone the moment he realized it was there.

Danny stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, sighing. He had better find a place to stay. And he didn't mean a bench.

Jump City was a bright place, full of sunshine, smiles and fun. It was a young city, a city meant to prosper and grow. The blue sky was wide and deep, the sun large and warm, the people happy and friendly. You could sleep on benches without getting your throat slit.

This wasn't Jump City.

For one thing it stunk. It stunk like nothing Danny had smelled before. The stench leaked through the sidewalks themselves, the odor infiltrating the run down shabby buildings and worn down citizens; although Danny had trouble calling the poor bodies living in this place citizens of anything. None of them wanted to be in this hellhole, at least from what Danny had seen.

He didn't blame them.

This was not a child's town. This was not the city were one would learn to have dreams. No, this was the city where you learned how to have nightmares.

People lived in Jump City.

People died in Bludhaven.

It was as simple as that.

Someone hurried past Danny, moving in the same direction as the boy, their shoes clicking heavily in the silence. Danny kept his eyes down, acutely aware of where he was in respects to the slender gaping alleyways. He knew better than to get caught alone in one of those. The last thing he wanted was trouble.

He sighed and returned to his previous thoughts. He didn't know what he was going to do. People were looking for him, both as Fenton and as Phantom. He had made it a point to keep moving, stay hidden, keep from dropping roots, but… maybe he could disappear better if he stayed in one place. If he just forgot Amity. If he turned himself into someone else.

Danny ran a thin pale hand through his night-black hair, which, he noticed, was getting pretty long. He'd have to put getting a haircut on his list of things to do… right under finding a place to stay and not getting caught by… everyone.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Then it happened. Looking up from his musings Danny caught sight of a woman ahead of him. She wasn't anything spectacular… her black hair was held in a bouncing ponytail, her spring green pant suit seeming gaudy in her dreary surroundings.

Danny wasn't really looking at her though. He was looking at the person who had passed him. It was a man, tall and large underneath a dark trench coat.

Danny sped up without thinking.

The man glanced around as he reached the lady. She had tensed, finally noticing what danger she was in.

It was too late.

She gave a pitiful cry as the figure grabbed her, pulling her into an alley. Danny saw her throw her purse, watched as it splashed into the gutter.

The man didn't notice. He was after more than a purse.

Then it was silent, as if the alley had swallowed the two.

Danny's stomach dropped.

He ran.

Thinking about it later Danny couldn't think of anything he could have done differently. He had no time to change into his more capable persona, and there was no way he was going to leave that lady there. The day he turned a blind eye would be the day scientists discovered the earth was really a speck of dust on a dandelion.

Sprinting the last couple yards Danny slid to a stop, pressing himself against the edge of the opening. Slowly he eased himself towards the corner, hoping beyond hope that that man wasn't looking his way.

A hand shot from the darkness, soliciting a yelp from the teen as it snagged the front of his shirt and yanked him into the darkness. He was tossed against the side of a building, the air leaving his lungs as he smacked into the concrete. He managed to keep on his feet, hurt and dazed though he was.

It took him roughly five seconds to figure out just how much of a mess he was in.

The man wasn't alone. Roughly five men stood inside the darkness, watching him with cold eyes. So this had been planned; a trap. Not good.

The man he had seen earlier was holding the woman roughly by the arms. She was watching him too, fear obscuring her oriental features. Danny felt a flicker of recognition, but had no time to register it. Instead he focused on the man nearest him; the man holding a knife.

This was not going to end well.

Danny ducked the same moment the knife came at him, his stomach turning at the sound of the metal against the concrete wall he had been leaning against. With a speed few had seen him use he dove under the mans legs, skidding to a halt on his elbows.

Danny bit his lip to keep from groaning and forced himself to stand. He was halfway up when someone grabbed hold of his shirt, hauling him off of the ground. Without thinking he kicked backwards with one of his airborne feet. His heel connected with something soft. With a swear the person dropped him, doubled over his injury.

Danny was moving the second his feet reconnected with the ground. He looked for the woman and found her leaning against the far wall, her wide eyes watching him as she… was she writing in a notebook?

No time to wonder about that.

The man had left her there in favor of chasing Danny. As the black haired boy ducked under the fellows thick arm he congratulated himself for drawing the attention away from the woman… before deciding he shouldn't be proud for getting a group of criminals to try and kill him…

He brought an elbow up, feeling a type of satisfaction when her felt the man's nose shatter against his skin.

He even smirked the second time someone missed him. He tilted his head cockily. "Try your best guys. I'm a wiz at dodge ball!"

Someone managed to grab Danny under the arms. Danny struggled a bit before going limp.

The thug's eyes widened at the unexpected deadweight. He leaned forward, trying to get a better grip on the writhing boy.

Danny's toes touched the earth and instantly he pushed hard against the ground, sending himself rocketing up.

The back of his skull crashed into his captures face. The man cried out as blood squirted from his nose and maw. Danny's feet touched again and he copied the feat, blood splattering on his black hair as the back of his head gave the man a second makeover.

The thugs arms fell away as he slumped to the ground, eyes rolling back in his head.

Danny straightened and looked at the closest thug to him.

"I think I've already used the dodge ball joke, but who cares. It's a classic."

He took the initiative this time, running at the man.

A gun shot echoed through the sky, ringing in his ears.

Danny froze. His eyes moved slowly over the two downed men towards the source of the shot.

Cold brown eyes met Danny's. A hard smile played on the bulky mans dark face as he brandished the gun he had shot into the sky.

Danny did a quick innovatory. If she had stayed in the same spot she had been the lady he had been trying to save would be behind him, out of harms way. If the man shot the bullet would probably hit Danny, not her. Good.

"Move over there." The man commanded, his voice gruff.

Danny's heart dropped… again. If he moved…

"NOW!" Danny cringed as a bullet whizzed by his left shoulder, burying itself in the concrete.

He obeyed. Slowly he moved to the wall the man had indicated, his eyes constantly on the weapon.

"You're a cocky one aren't you? Think you can save the day? What are you, some kind of hero?"

Danny reached the wall. _"Please don't tell me to turn around."_

The man didn't. Maybe he wanted Danny to see death… whatever the reason he let the halfa face the gun.

He strode up to Danny, holding the gun inches from the teens face. He sneered.

"Here's a tip kid. Don't stick your filthy nose places it don't belong.

The cold barrel of the weapon brushed against Danny's cheek.

"But it's a bit to late for that now. Don't ya think?"

If the man had been sensible he would have pulled the trigger right then, but for some reason he didn't. Maybe it was the raw fear in Danny's eyes, maybe it was the anger brought on by seeing on of his fellows blood dripping down the teens hair and face. Whatever the reason he chanced one last dramatic act before fulfilling his threat.

The man pressed the gun to the middle of the boy's forehead.

Danny's eyes popped.

Slowly the man pulled the barrel left, using it to push the boys blood soaked black hair out of his eyes.

For just a moment the gun cleared Danny's head as the man pushed the semi-long black hair from his face. For just a moment Danny didn't feel the chill of the metal against his skin. For just a moment Danny's mind hatched a desperate plan.

A moment was all he needed.

Danny brought his left hand up as fast as he could. He slammed his palm into the guy's wrist, forcing the gun up.

Danny winced at the sound as light burst from the barrel, his ears popping from the noise. Quickly he brought his right hand back and punched the man in the middle of his big ugly face.

A punch from a scared teenager wouldn't have done much damage, but a punch from a scared and _angry_ super powered teenager while his protection instincts were fully active?

No so harmless.

The thug fell backwards. He was out before he hit the ground.

Danny dove for the gun, rolling to his feet after he felt the cold metal in his grasp. He turned it to the two men still standing, his determined blue eyes shining from beneath his bloodied locks. Neither of them was armed.

"Get out of here." He snarled.

The two men looked at each other and hightailed it further down the alley, running as fast as their legs could take them.

Something hit Danny's legs from behind, sending him crashing to the ground. He had no time to yelp before a boot smashed into his head, pressing it against the ground. Danny gasped, pain shooting through his cranium as the criminal pressed harder, as if he was trying to force Danny's head to become part of the ground. Danny grabbed wildly for the man's leg with one hand, but seeing he was on his belly it was nearly impossible to pull the man's foot off of him.

He had managed to keep hold of the gun when he had fallen. He racked his mind for a way to use it, but he was pretty stuck. Unless…

Desperate times call for desperate measures; and Danny was desperate.

The man gasped as the kid turned a weird blue color, causing his foot to pass straight through the boy's skull. The boy rolled, stopping on one knee, raising the gun and returning to his original coloring.

Two pairs of wide eyes stared back at each other. The man was scared. That kid had just… he didn't know what he had done, but it wasn't natural. He watched the gun shake slightly. He smiled. The blow to the head had already weakened the kid. He was surprised he was still retaining consciousness. Freak or not he could only last so long. All the thug needed to do was run down the clock.

"D-don't m-move." Danny stuttered.

The man's smile widened. "You couldn't hurt me."

The blue eyes closed for a fraction of a second before popping open once again. "You're right." He slurred. "I can't." the barrel lowered just a bit.

Danny smiled sleepily.

"But she can."

A purse slammed into the man's temple. He crashed to the ground, unconscious. Behind him stood the woman, panting as her green eyes studied Danny.

The gun slipped from his fingers. He stared at the man, as if waiting for him to get up. He didn't. He looked up to the woman, puzzled and dazed.

"_She threw her purse in the gutter. So she got out of the alley, got it… than… came _back_?"_

Danny scrunched his nose. Why did he feel like he should know her? "Hey," he said, a bit of dizzy anger in his tone. "I was supposed to save_ you_."

Danny didn't wait for her to answer. Right now he didn't want to know; he just wanted to sleep.

He surrendered to the blackness encroaching on his vision.

--------------------- Jump City, California -------------------------

Danny was gone.

The Titans hadn't known for sure until they returned, licking their wounds from that terrible fight, but the truth had been painfully evident the moment the enormous doors of the tower opened.  
Gone.

Even though all the facts pointed to him leaving… it somehow still surprised the Titans to find him gone when they arrived under the cover of darkness. They had expected a little more than a note.

They had expected too much.

Robin had not left his seat in front of the egg shaped control panel for the computer for two days except for the meals his teammates forced him to eat, and to return to his room at nighttime (although secretly none of the Titans believed he stayed in his room after they had fallen asleep). He sat there now, his face deceivingly calm. The Titans let him be, let him research. It was what he did. It was him. It was… familiar, and in the midst of the chaos Phantom's words had set into motion the team was in too much need of something familiar to shoot the detective down for doing something he had always done.

Starfire floated by his side for hours at a time, silent, waiting. She knew Robin did not wish to speak, but she could not bear to leave him alone during such a time, and so she fulfilled both Titans needs by sitting beside him and watching the screen as he dove into things he had previously left alone.

She kept her eyes on the screen most of the time, as did Robin. Her silence had made the leader uneasy at first; he was not used to seeing her this quiet. He had made conversation numerous times, but Star had not made much effort to hold up her end of the talks. This was because she knew he was talking for her. She did not want him to. She was not here for her own needs; she was here for Robin's. He wanted to be silent. For him, she would be silent also.

The tale the two Titans gleaned from the computer was not a happy one. Robin had begun studying Phantom first; Star reflected that he might have felt bad about digging into the mystery of Danny so soon after the boy's departure. But that was just her interpretation. She didn't know if it was true.

Phantom's story was a confusing one, told by police reports, eye witnesses, people he had saved… and people he had harmed. Some thought he was a villain, some a hero. Both parties had solid proof. There were many confrontations, many debates as to his nature, and many holes left in the testimonials. There were precious little interaction available from the boy himself, and these were largely contradictory.

It was the debates that hardened Starfire's decision to see Phantom as a friend. In these instances the anti-Phantom party always centered on one thing. It was not evidence of Phantom's crimes, or even testimonials by the many citizens claiming the ghost had destroyed property or otherwise proved him to be a menace. No, the attacks against the teen ghost focused on one thing and one thing only.

Danny Phantom was a ghost. He was not human, and therefore, was pure evil by default.

Starfire did not believe that was true.

From what she could tell, Robin didn't either.

Robin then moved his attention to Danny. Star had learned enough about his technique during the process to know that he didn't go strait to the point. He touched the edges, learning what he could without hitting anything terribly important before digging into the main meat of the story. During this time Starfire had begun to recognize who the people important to Danny were, and had begun to understand who they were as people. The fact that Danny's family made a living out of hunting ghosts had shocked Starfire at first. Why, she thought, would Danny befriend Phantom, an enemy of his family? She could easily tell that his parents would not have supported such a friendship.

Robin seemed to have thought this too. His placid face had become periodically agitated as he listened to speeches the two grown Fentons had given against the Ghost Boy, pleading with there town to not trust him, occasionally spotting Danny's carefully blank face in the background.

Starfire knew Danny's hometown now; a place called Amity Park.

Robin had actually chuckled when he pinpointed the town, mumbling that he should have guessed. Starfire had wanted to press the point, but had thought better of it. She was attempting to join Robin in the brooding after all. You did not ask many questions while brooding, and those you did were always of yourself.

Danny had had an older sister also. This tugged on Star's gentle heart also; she had a sister of her own. Yes, said sister was a criminal and had tried to frame Starfire, but Star knew what it was like to love a sibling, just like Danny had.

Then Robin brought up articles dealing with the Fentons deaths. Jasmine had died with her parents in an explosion that destroyed the family's home, but unlike her parents there was not even a trace of her remains in the carnage of Danny's old home.

Starfire cried.

Robin had taken it all with a strained reverence and a touch of irritation. On one hand he was grieved by the tragedy, and on the other frustrated by the calamity's unpredictability. He was frustrated because the Fentons had needed help… and he was frustrated because he knew there was absolutely no way he, or anyone else, could have given it to them.

* * *

"No one thought Phantom was responsible for the explosion until after Danny left Amity Park."

Starfire was startled by Robin's voice. She started, dropping Silkie, who had been nestled in her lap, to the ground. She glanced quickly at the screen; it showed a newspaper clipping, claiming evidence of foul play had been found, and that a bounty had been placed on Danny Phantom's head.

"What do you mean?" After so many hours silent Starfire was almost startled to hear her own voice. She looked at Robin to find the leader with a thoughtful look on his face. Quickly the teen's fingers clicked against the computer keys, bringing up another image. "SOLE SURVIVOR OF LOCAL TRAGEDY GONE MISSING" it read. Another tap of the keys and the two articles were shown side by side on the screen.

Robin sat back. "Look at the dates. They didn't start blaming Phantom until about two weeks after Danny vanished."

He still couldn't believe the intensity of the hate some had for the Ghost Boy. However much Robin wished he was wrong he couldn't bring himself to completely dismiss the idea that Phantom might be a villain. He just couldn't see someone hated so vehemently protecting the very people that wanted to donate him to science. It just… wasn't human not to.

Starfire regarded her friend with wide eyes. "What does this information mean?"

Robin thought about it for a moment. "We know Danny and Phantom are friends… now we know that someone besides us knows that too. Someone in Amity Park. Someone who would wait until Danny was out of there before telling anyone."

Starfire tugged on her red hair. She didn't usual dive to deep into these matters, but the digging, the searching, the satisfaction of finding something, yet knowing there was much more to find… she was beginning to understand why Robin seemed to enjoy this so much. "So someone believed Phantom was at fault, yet did not tell anyone until Danny had left? Does this mean someone knew friend Danny would commit the running away?"

Robin's posture showed that he had been thinking the same thing.

More typing and five more pictures popped up on screen. Starfire watched Robin as he glared at the photos. One was of a tall stocky boy; he was dressed in a red and white leather jacket, a football pressed point down to the ground with one hand, as if he was holding it for a kicker. He was smiling large cocky grin and an arrogant glimmer was visible in his blue eyes.

The second was a girl. Star was reminded instantly of Raven. The picture was a headshot, showing a girl with purple eyes staring at the camera as if it had just told her to ware a tutu and do the hokey-pokey. Her lips were lined in purple and turned down in a soft scowl.

Star leaned forward, looking at the third picture. This one showed an older man with white hair standing behind a podium, frozen mid-sentence. He stood straight, his posture and supercilious eyes looking down his nose at the people gathered before him.

The last one was obviously self-taken. It showed a dark teen in heavily rimmed glasses and a bright red hat smiling flirtatiously at the camera he was holding in the air.

Star had seen most of the people displayed before, having caught quick snatches here and there as Robin had tore through the information.

"… What are we looking for?"

Robin bit his lip. "I don't know. You don't usually know until you find it."

"Then how do you look if you do not understand what you are searching for?"

"… You just… do."

Star was silent, sensing that Robin did not want to explain.

"Are you still at that?"

Beast Boy crashed to the sofa, a soda clasped in one hand. He regarded the pictures with one eyebrow raised. "Sorry to break it to you Robin, but none of those are Danny."

Robin ignored his words in favor of asking a question of his own. "How's Raven?"

Beast Boy's face fell. He began fiddling with his can, his eyes as far away from Robin's probing ones as he could get them.

"She's fine. All that healing mumbo jumbo she does did its thing, but she's still tired."

He didn't say she was too weak to find Danny; but Robin already knew that. They all knew that.

"So… um…" Beastboy pushed off of the couch and moved to Robin's side, glancing at Starfire. It was so weird to have her quiet like that… "Any luck with… whatever it is you do all day?"

Robin frowned harder. "Danny kept a lot of things secret."

"Do you know where he is?"

"…No."

Beast Boy made a sound between a whine and a growl. "It's been days! You're supposed to be this big shot pot-of-weed detective -"

"It's protégée Beast Boy, not pot-of-weed."

"-But you can't find _anything_? No clues? No hints?"

"It's not-"

"Are you even trying!?"

Robin breathed slowly. He had known this would happen. Squaring his shoulders resolutely he answered the changeling. "No. I'm not."

That was not the answer Beast Boy was expecting. "… What? But I- I thought… we fought Skulker and those vulture things… and Raven got hurt and… when we read the note you were all mad and you stalked off, and then the next time we see you you're researching and…"

"Beast Boy, I've been researching Danny's past, not trying to find his location."

Beast Boy blinked unbelievingly at the leader. "But… why?"

"I don't want to find him, I want to know why he left."

"We know that! He left because we found out about his family."

"Then what about the reason he left his hometown? They already knew there."

"When we find him," Beast Boy began. "We could ask why he-"

"No." Robin said abruptly. There was a note of finality in the teen's words. That should have been the end of it, and it would have been under normal circumstances. These weren't normal circumstances.

Beast Boy exploded. "Dude! What is it with the attitude?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "Drop it with the invincible leader act! Do you even care that one of us is missing?!"

Robin lifted his gaze slightly when Beast Boy called Danny "one of us". Was it true?

"You _don't_ care do you? _Do you_?" Beast Boy continued, his voice getting harder.

"Friend Beast Boy-" Star began.

"No! I'm _sick_ of this! Why do we hafta be perfect, huh? Why do we have to pretend this doesn't hurt?"

Robin was getting agitated, despite his best efforts to let Beast Boy be. "We're not pretending Beast Boy. We're just…"

"Just what?" Beast Boy challenged. He was upset and obstinate. Robin frowned harder, half because he didn't understand BB's outburst and half because he didn't know how to respond.

Beast Boy took the leaders silence as proof. "See? You're not even-"

"Beast Boy!" Robin snapped.

"What! Our friend could be in trouble, he could even still be in the city, and we're not even trying to find him, we're just-"

"DOING OUR JOB!!"

"-we're just LETTING HER LEAVE!" Beast Boy screamed.

The room was silent.

Beast Boy's green skin paled as he realized what he had just said.

Robin turned in his chair. Every ounce of anger was gone out of his expression.

"This is about Terra, isn't it?" He said. His tone was soft as he watched the Titan prankster's anger melt into sorrow. "Beast Boy, Danny will be alright. It's not the same. This… this is different."

Beast Boy slumped to the couch, defeated. "How?" he challenged flatly.

Robin thought about it for a moment, but couldn't find an answer Beast Boy would accept.

Beast Boy's eyes darkened. "He's gone. He didn't even say goodbye. Just like…" he gulped. "No one stays somewhere after their darkest secret's been revealed."

"Raven did." Robin said softly.

That stopped the green teen. "Well… she's Raven. Danny's… not."

"He's not Terra either."

Beast Boy was silent. "Then… why aren't you trying to find him?"

"Have you considered what happens if we _do_ find him?"

Beast Boy opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. He hadn't really thought that far…

"Do you know Beast Boy?" Robin asked again, his voice tired.

"No."

Robin tuned towards the computer, pounding on the buttons. The picture of the white haired politician enlarged instantly

This is Vladimir Masters. He's… very successful. He's a billionaire, the Mayor of a town, has one of the cleanest criminal records I've ever seen, and owns too many businesses to count. He's also Danny's legal guardian."

Robin paused. "How do you feel about Danny, now that we know more about him?"

Beast Boy fidgeted. "I-… I don't know. Different in some ways, but in others… I mean… you're right. It's different, but…he's still Danny."

Robin nodded. "That's how I feel also. This changes how we see him, but there are certain things I still believe will never change. He couldn't have been lying all the time. It's not like him."

"Like what?"

Robin's anger was long gone, leaving only the want to show Beast Boy what he saw.

"He stayed here because he had a reason to. He left here because he had a reason to. To keep who he was a secret he must have had a reason."

"A reason, I get it. What's the punch line?" Beast Boy asked.

"The point is every major action we've seen Danny take has always been thought out, has always had extreme motivation. If he had a reason to leave Jump City… it makes sense that he would have had a reason to leave Amity Park too. Even if we found Danny we wouldn't be able to bring him back here." Robin continued. "He would have to go back to his guardian, to Amity Park, and whatever he was _really_ running from. It's the law."

Robin sighed. "As far as I can tell whoever did this to Danny and his family is still out there. They could be looking for him… or they could be waiting for people like us to simply send him into the lion's den."

Beast Boy slumped. "So you aren't finding him because we could just be catching him for the bad guys instead of helping him?"

Robin nodded.

BB didn't have the spirit to groan, but he wanted to. "Why are these things always so complicated?"

"Complications are part of life. Get used to it."

The three Titans currently occupying the room turned to see Raven, hood pulled over her face.

"Raven!" Starfire squealed. She darted to the dark girl's side, pulling her into a hug before she could protest.

"Star, let me-!"

"Oh, yes my friend." Star let go, but the joyful gleam in her eye didn't leave.

Raven walked to stand beside Robin, ignoring his obvious surprise.

"So you aren't looking for him?"

Robin's surprise turned to muted accusation. "How'd you know that?"

Raven shrugged. "I listened in a bit." She looked up at the man on the screen, frowning. For some reason she didn't like that look in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Beast Boy asked. "You should be resting. That stuff Skulker shot you with really messed you up. You shouldn't be walking yet."

Raven thought of making a sarcastic reply, but she wasn't really in the mood. Instead she exercised her power by floating a few feet off of the ground, shooting a demeaning look at Beast Boy.

He slumped. "Point taken."

Raven turned to Robin and handed him three objects. "I don't know if letting him leave will help him any Robin."

Robin was taken aback. He had expected Raven to be on his side when it came to this. "Do you have a reason?" He already knew the answer. That was something Danny and Raven had in common; they always had a reason.

Raven nodded, looking down at Robin's hands. Robin followed her gaze. One was a weathered paper; Danny's "goodbye note". The other two were books. He had seen Danny's before, but he hadn't seen the other one.

"What's this?" he asked, lifting the book.

"It's a book on ghostly artifacts. It's not important yet."

"Then what is?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven took a breath. She had never been good with explaining theories. Beast Boy was worse, but that didn't say much.

"We fought our first of these ghosts the day before we met Danny. We know he was near the scene of the fight because Phantom was there, and I don't think Phantom would stray too far from Danny."

"You think they're that good of friends?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, but I know that the first thing Phantom did when he panicked was get Danny out of here, and that he knew you were talking about him on the telephone."

Raven shook her head. They were off track. "That doesn't matter yet. What I'm trying to draw your attention to is the fact that we haven't had a ghost attack since the day he left."

Robin rubbed his chin. "So you think the entirety of the ghost attacks we've faced were caused by Danny's presence here?"

Raven nodded, relieved that Robin had caught on. Explaining would be easier now.

"But hold up." Beast Boy said. "So Danny was near Phantom when that bucket of bolts attacked the first time. He wasn't anywhere near us when Skulker attacked the second time. How could he have caused that one?"

Raven looked around to find that Starfire and Robin shared Beast Boy's confusion. Great, she was in the spotlight again.

"It did have something to do with Danny. Skulker and the shape shifting ghost didn't go after the rest of you, they singled me out."

"I do not understand." Star said.

Robin's masked eyes widened. He did.

"You're the only one with powers that could tract either Phantom or Danny. Skulker affected you with the serum and that emotion feeding shape shifter made you unstable enough that you were unable to track Danny until he was out of range."

Raven nodded.

"…Wow." Robin said. Whoever was doing this wasn't an amateur.

"… So whoever did this didn't want us to track Danny?"

"Possibly."

"But Robin just said that they _wanted_ us to track Danny. And now you're saying-"

"I don't think they wanted that either." Robin interrupted. "They didn't push us into doing what they wanted; they just made sure that whatever we chose to do would end up in their favor. Even our meeting Danny. It wouldn't have made a difference that Danny owned a ghost book if we hadn't fought that ghost thing the day before."

"But- who could do such a thing?" Star asked.

Robin's eyes narrowed. He knew of a couple.

"So… if both of our options end up hurting Danny… what do we do?" BB asked, his voice small.

Robin scowled. "We find a third option."

The doors slid open and Cyborg walked into the room. "Rob, we have a problem."

"Well that's something new." Raven intoned.

"What is it Cyborg?"

The half-robot held a closed hand up, his voice grim. "Danny was bugged."

"WHAT!"

"Calm down man! I'm sure he didn't know it was there. If he had been spying he would have put it somewhere in the tower, not left it in his bag.

"… You're right." Robin took a breath to calm his rapid heart. "Where exactly was it hidden?"

"In his ghost weapons bag, the one I've been looking through."

Robin grunted. It had been hidden in the only object that never left Danny's side. "Is there any way we can track it to its source?" He asked/ordered.

Cy shook his head. "It self destructed the minute I touched it."

Robin shook his head. Whoever this maniac was, he (or she) was getting on his nerves, big time.

"Can you at least tell me what it looked like?"

Cyborg's eyebrow twitched. "Like a bug."

"I meant-"

"I know what you meant Rob. It was a spy-bug shaped like an insect-bug. With horns."

Raven sighed. "Well at least we know they're original."

"Beastboy, could you go get the files Danny made?" Robin asked.

"Yup!" Beastboy said, saluting before morphing into a cheetah and racing from the room.

"I will help him!" Starfire said, flying after the green boy.

Robin turned back to Cyborg. "Are you making any headway with those weapons?"

Cyborg's eyes gleamed. "I've never seen anything like them. I don't care what the general opinion of Danny's family line is; these people were technological geniuses in every sense of the word."

"Except for the ghosts."

"Yeah, except for the ghosts."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "So, have you figured any of that stuff out yet?"

Cyborg smirked. "Of course I did! Who do you take me for?"

"_I'm not going to answer that."_ Raven decided, floating from the room.

Cy turned back to Robin. "So, you want a demonstration?"

Without waiting for an answer Cy tossed a thin tube to the teen.

Robin raised an eyebrow, turning the object over in his fingers. "This looks like-"

"It is. Sort of."

Robin twisted the body of the weapon and two jets of bright glowing green extended from the staff, illuminating the Boy Wonder's surprised face.

"That… wasn't what I was expecting."

Cyborg chuckled, running a hand over the light saber like weapon. "That seems to be pretty much a constant with Fenton inventions."

Cyborg noticed the screen, and the man displayed upon it. "Who's that?"

Robin looked at the display. Vladimir… he was strong, influential… he knew Danny pretty well. He had even attributed his decision to run for office to the teen.

He seemed to be devoted to the teen. He couldn't be the one that seemed to be manipulating the runaway… could he?

Robin's gut told him something was up; but he had no proof. But still…

"… No."

The young leader handed the weapon back to Cyborg and left, his mind on a place called Amity Park, and the strange people who inhabited it.

The door hissed closed leaving Cy alone in the silence.

"… Did I miss something?"

* * *

Danny's head was throbbing. Slowly the boy opened his eyes. White light shone in his face, causing him to let his eyelids droop again. Danny tried to understand where he was, why he was there, when he could leave. Flashes of memory filled his mind. A knife, a battle, an oriental woman with fear and curiosity in her green eyes…

He was injured. He needed to get up. What if he had been captured by someone? What if he was in a hospital?"

With that thought in his mind Danny forced his eyes to open and pushed himself up on an elbow. He turned his head to the side, away from the light.

"Oh, you're up already?"

He forced himself to focus. There, standing in front of him, an armful of laundry in her arms stood the lady she had saved. She was small and thin, obviously oriental.

Danny's eyes widened in shock, his sore muscles stiffening. He _knew_ this lady! And she knew him.

"Hi Danny. Do you remember me?"

"_No, I just stare in absolute shock at all the women I meet."_

Danny realized she was waiting for an answer. "Harry." He whispered.

Harry Chin. He had saved Harriet Chin. The _reporter_.

Crud.

The woman's green eyes hardened a moment at the nickname, before she smiled enthusiastically at the boy. "You sure are your father's son, aren't you?"

Danny collapsed onto the bed he was laying on. It was a small bed. He looked around he seemed to be in a small drab apartment.

Great.

He groaned. He really wished things weren't always so complicated.

* * *

**Oh well, that's as good as I can do I guess. I wanted it to be better… so yes, you guys can stop sending me "DISCONTINUE THIS AND I'LL KICK YOUR TUSH" mail now. ^^ And yes, I did deserve it for keeping you waiting. See you next time! Please review!**


	20. Child's Play

**Yay, I have a cold! I know that isn't something to celebrate, especially because I haven't seen my friends all week, but it does give me a chance to write uninterrupted. I think something about being burned in elephant dung helped motivate me also… ****(insert nervous laughter here) Anyways…**

**Thanks you so much reviewers! I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I'm to busy being broke to buy Teen Titans or Danny Phantom. So yeah.**

* * *

Strong Enough (A Danny Phantom, Teen Titan Crossover)

Chapter 20: Child's Play

* * *

It should have been easy. He should have saved the day and been on his way without a hitch. He should have been able to take the thugs out and disappeared before anyone noticed a thing. He should have been able to hold onto consciousness long enough to get himself somewhere safe.

He should have remembered that, for him, it was never that easy.

It was a small apartment, with white walls and a plastic shade over the one window that happened to be right over the Halfa's head. Danny was lying on a small bed, covered in a scratchy blanket. To his left was a small white nightstand ant a toppled stool. In front of the only him stood Harriet, her bright green suit contrasting greatly with the drab room.

Danny lay as still as he could, his mind whirling. He tensed as Harriet inched closer, his stomach dropping at the smile on her bright oriental face.

What did she want? Did she know what had happened? There was a chance she didn't… but what then? He couldn't lie to her. She had been friends with his parents. He couldn't hide their deaths from her for his own ease. It wasn't right.

So what did he do? He didn't know how she would take it. He didn't know anything about her. It had been a long time since he'd met her at the reunion.

…But it wasn't that long ago, was it? Al the fights, all the terror, all the failures… and all the victories … it had all happened in what? Ten, eleven months? Almost a year? The accident had happened right after his 14th birthday, and he was very close to turning 15. It didn't seem real. It didn't seem as if anything could change so fast… that _he_ could change so fast…

And now what? He was lying on a sagging bed in his parents' old friend's apartment, wondering how much she knew and why she was here in the first place.

"So, how's the head?" Harry asked, her chipper voice bringing Danny back to the present.

Danny pulled his arm from beneath the rough blanket draped over his small form, reaching up and gingerly touching his forehead. A subtle pounding in his cranium reminded him of why he was in this mess, but it wasn't anything to worry about. He'd had worse.

"I'm fine." He growled, pushing up on his elbows. He narrowed his blue eyes when the sudden movement caused the throbbing to intensify, but showed no other symptoms of his pain.

The blanket fell away from his bare shoulders, causing Danny to frown. "What did you do with my shirt?"

"Oh, it's in the wash. It had blood on it, and you _know_ how hard blood is to get out if you let it set for too long. And I didn't think you'll go running off without it, so there's less of a chance of you leaving before we can talk this way."

Danny tugged the brown blanket over his exposed skin and allowed his hand to travel to his head once again, this time feeling the crusty dried mattes of thick black hair created by now dry blood. He cringed. He didn't know if the fact that it wasn't his blood made it better or worse.

"Harriet, what are you- why am I- do you know that-" Danny sighed. "Let me start over."

Harry shook her head, her ponytail swinging behind her. "No need. In order; what am I doing here? Working. I finally found a job, and I couldn't turn it down. As to why _you're_ here, I believe I read somewhere that it's not ethical to leave minors unconscious in alleyways."

Danny rolled his eyes. Sarcasm. Great. Just what he needed.

"And as to if I know what happened…" Harriet's gaze softened, and her shoulders slumped slightly, causing Danny to realize just how small she was. "Yes I know. Vlad called me right after the accident." She pushed a piece of pitch black hair behind her ear. "I went to the funeral. I… visited you in the hospital, but… you wouldn't remember that."

Danny felt his view of Harry soften a bit.

"We were all friends in college," She continued. "Or your mother and I were. Your dad and I…" Harriet gave a small impish smile. "Not so much, unfortunately."

Danny pushed himself to a sitting position, catching at the blanket as it fell away from his bare chest and pressing it to him, terribly self-conscious of the scars he knew ran down his side. "And Vlad?"

She shrugged. "He was your father's pal. I didn't really know him very well; he hung with Jack most of the time. And then the three of them started with the ghost stuff…"

She shook her head. "And I just… faded out of the picture."

Harriet dumped the laundry she had been carrying in an undignified heap on the carpeted floor before smartly snagging a nearby stool with her shoe and pulling it towards her.

She positioned it by the head of the bed, next to the small white nightstand and seated herself upon it. She crossed her legs and scooted forward, her excited eyes on Danny's wary confused ones.

"So what are you doing in 'Haven anyways?" She asked, changing the subject. Her eyes were bright with childish excitement.

Danny blinked. "I, uh, well…"

"_I've been living with a bunch of underage superheroes until I got attacked, then I left to protect their town, then I flew until I ran out of strength, hitched a ride in the back of an unsuspecting semi and ended up in this… place."_

"I don't know why I'm here. I was in an alley when I passed out. I'm assuming you carried me. Unless you found a way to get a teenager to sleepwalk on command…" He said derisively.

A full fledge smirk bloomed on the reporter's face. Danny frowned. Where had he seen that type of grin before?

"Very smart Danny. You know, it's been a while since I butted heads with someone who owned a head worth butting." The smirk widened, although a tinge of sadness made itself known in the reporter's eyes. "You remind me of your mother."

Danny knit his eyebrows in confusion. The determination, the confidence, the almost playful intensity… he recognized it…

"I do love a challenge kid. I didn't cover the guerilla rising in Rumackistanget that made my career by backing down." Harriet declared.

"So, what do you want from me?"

Harry gave him an innocent look. "What do you mean?"

Danny sighed irritably. "Come off it Harry. If you weren't gaining something from me being here I would be waking up in the nearest police station, hospital, or Social Services building."

Harriet huffed, eyes narrowing. "What, I can't take you in because you're an old friend's son that _happened_ to save my life?"

Danny looked lost. "Um… no?"

"Well a story would be nice, but that's not the reason I didn't turn you in."

"Then what is?"

"I'm sentimental."

Danny gave the spunky adult a blank look that sent her into a hardly restrained fit of giggles.

"Wait, so you're not sending me back to Vlad?" He asked bewildered.

She caught her breath, a twinkle still visible in her bright slanted eyes. "Do you want me to?" she asked playfully.

"HECK NO!"

"Well then, you'll just have to be my little secret, wont you?"

"…That's it? You're not sending me back?"

"Oh come on Jr., I'm a reporter, not an idiot." Harry said. She sobered, leaning closer to the teen. "Danny, listen. I was friends with your parents, but… I don't know. Maddie and Jack got each other, Vlad got his money; after the reunion I didn't have anything, and to be truthful, I was sour about that. I can't make that up to your parents now; but I can get their son off the streets."

Danny stared. She was just going to… but wasn't she… how could…

"But you're a crazy reporter!"

"And you're a crazy runaway. We're even."

Danny didn't feel any sting at the words. He almost didn't care that sooner or later Harry was bound to start asking questions Danny really didn't want to answer. Why worry? He couldn't quite believe that Harry was going to accept him that easily, but why not let himself slow down for a while? Danny couldn't help a shallow smile. Vlad, the Titans, Harry… when did he get so popular, anyways?

Harriet smiled at the boy, standing up and retreating to the stack of clothes.

A sudden thought popped into Danny's mind, causing his breath to hitch. "Hey Harry?"

The women rolled her eyes in annoyance at being addressed as such, but didn't say anything.

Danny tugged on the seam of the rough blanket draped over him nervously, the image of himself going intangible in the alley filling his head.

"Did you…" Danny stopped, almost losing his nerve. He tried again. "Harry, in the alley… did you; um… did you see anything, well, um, strange?"

Harriet gave Danny a puzzled look. "What do you mean strange? I saw a fourteen year old beat the stuffing out of a bunch of thugs. Does that count as strange?"

Danny relaxed. Of course she hadn't seen. By some stroke of luck she had been picking up her purse at the time, completely missing Danny's act of desperation.

"Never mind." He said.

The boy allowed himself to sink into the bed, letting the relief wash over him. He didn't know where it came from, but he did know that he was a teenager, barely approaching fifteen, and there was something about knowing you didn't have to worry for your life anymore that made him feel safe. Knowing that someone was there, willing to take the responsibility for him; someone that cared.

It was selfish, he knew, but he didn't care. He didn't care because for the first time in so long Danny found that he wasn't afraid to close his eyes.

"Hey Danny?"

Danny looked at Harriet. She tilted her head.

"How _did_ you take out all those guys?"

Danny thought a moment before answering truthfully. "I… I have no idea. Now it kind of seems like something big, but then it was just, well… child's play."

Harry shrugged. "Must have been the adrenaline."

Danny smirked. He couldn't help it. "Yeah, adrenaline."

--------------Amity Park, Illinois ------------------

There are times when Tucker Foley would do anything to get in the spotlight. He had just too much going for him to live his life unnoticed. All he asked for was some appreciation every now and then. Everyone wanted to be noticed once and a while.

Then there are times when Tucker would give up his needs, falling into the background, resigning himself to being the unnoticed party, because that was where he was needed.

Because he couldn't help thinking that being needed was way better then five minutes of fame any day.

"Okay, you've got two on your tail." The tech wiz said, his hands flying over the keys on his PDA. He had Valerie's general location, through her suit, which gave him access to the girl's ghost tracking equipment as well. He watched Valerie's red dot and the green dots signifying ghosts dance around each other on the small screen.

"How are you holding up?" He asked.

"_Could you ask me that after I kick the spooks butt?"_

Tucker winced. "Sorry." He amended. "And you Sam?" He asked, one dark hand reaching to touch the Fenton Phones in his ear.

"_Other then the fact that you haven't gotten the hover-board in working order yet, forcing me to hunt from the back of a motor scooter I'm fine." _Came Sam's familiar snarl.

Tuck sighed, sneaking a glance at the pile of tools and half finished metal board lying neatly in the corner of Sam's basement. "I'm working on it. I've got most of the rocket and control elements down, but the hovering is still giving me problems."

Tucker returned to his PDA screen, leaning back on the over plush chair and drawing his knees up.

"Sam, I'm going to need an exact location from you." That was one reason Tucker was antsy to get the board finished. He could easily track Sam using it, an ability he didn't have at the time; though the Fenton Phones were good for many things, tracking was not one of them. To be truthful, not knowing where Sam worried him. A whole lot.

"_I'm about two blocks behind Valerie. I can hear her shots."_

"Okay Sam, if you're where I think you are you've got two low level specters between you and Val. You think you can handle them?"

Tucker knew better than to doubt Sam's abilities, but he couldn't help it.

His answer came seconds later when the sound of two shots rang through the communication device.

"_That answer you're question?"_ Sam asked dryly.

"Point taken. Um, Val?"

"_What?!"_

Have you kicked butt yet?"

Several grunts later Valerie gave a slight hum in satisfaction. _"You can bet you're PDA on it Foley."_

"Never." He replied instantly, smirking into the warm semi-darkness of the Sam's cozy-yet-freakishly-huge basement.

He imagined he heard Valerie chuckle. If he had it was probably the first time he remembered such a sound coming from the fighter's lips.

His neck was a bit strained against the red cushion he was slouching against. Tuck tensed a bit, his eyes on the screen he held between his slightly parted legs.

"Okay guys, you've got another low manifestation somewhere between your current position and the park. Best route would be…"

Tucker stuck his tongue out a bit, his eyebrows knit as he focused on the map of the city displayed before him. "…Down eighth going east. You should probably make sure you-"

Tucker heard a sudden repeating noise, something that sounded like a sharp ticking, or maybe footsteps. "Sam, you hear that?"

"_Hear what?"_

Wait, the sound wasn't coming from over the Fenton Phones! It was coming from…

Tucker tilted his head up, meeting a pair of cold blue eyes from over the back of the huge chair.

"_Tucker? Are you there?"_ Sam asked through the Phones.

He chuckled nervously, sliding the device out of his ear and grinning lopsidedly at the woman staring at him from behind the chair he was slumped in. "Um, hi Mrs. Manson."

Pamela raised a displeased eyebrow, still clicking her toe sharply against the ground in annoyance.

* * *

"And that is why we can't work out of your basement anymore. Really Sam, when you said your parents smothered you I just thought you were whining. I stand corrected."

It was lunch time, and the three ghost hunters were eating they're lunch at a picnic table in the school's yard underneath a large tree.

Sam shrugged. "Well, things seem to be coming together anyways. After you fix the board and Valerie get the stuff from Starr things will start picking up."

"Yeah," Tuck said. "But never leave me to explain why I, a friend of yours, am around when you, the friend I'm supposed to be visiting, _aren't _again. I think my brain got whiplash from thinking too fast."

Valerie tilted her head, obviously amused. "How did you get away with it anyway?"

Tuck shrugged. "I made an excuse about my house having no electricity or something. It doesn't matter. What does matter-"

"-Is that we need a new base of operations." Sam finished. "Preferably one lacking parental supervision. We don't need any more snoops."

"You really don't like adults, do you Sam?" Val asked, placing the remainder of the sandwich she was eating in her brown lunch bag, crumpled it up, and aimed at the nearest trash bin.

Sam's purple eyes watched as the brown paper flew through the air and straight into the garbage bin. Mikey and a few other kids without reputations to protect applauded.

"Well, do you have a proposition?" Sam asked, a hint of the old feud in her voice.

Valerie sighed. Seriously, talking with this girl was like cleaning sharks teeth. One moment everything's fine, the next…

"So, anything interesting happen on patrol after our connection was interrupted?" Tucker said, cutting of the impending argument.

"No. a couple low level ghosts, but nothing we couldn't easily beat." Valerie said. "You guys are really good at this you know. I just don't get it. Sometimes it feels like I'm the rookie around here."

At that Sam (who had been glaring at Tucker for the abrupt subject change) gave Valerie a deer-in-headlights stare, and Tuck proceeded to choke on the meatball he was currently chewing. Valerie watched, alarmed, as the tech enthusiast scrambled for a napkin. "You okay Foley?"

"Yeah Tucker," Sam began, hiding her shock with sarcasm. "Any reason why you choke every time Valerie speaks?"

Tuck sent the Goth a glare between coughs.

Val rolled her eyes and decided to get back on track. "You've really gotten the hang of how to sweep a city for ghost problems. Almost like you've done patrols before." The Ghost Hunter commented thoughtfully after Tuck had managed to clear his windpipe.

Val watched for a moment as the two fidgeted. "So have you?"

This time the subject change was initiated by Sam. "So, you said things went well with Starr."

Val scowled, ticked at being interrupted, but let it pass. "She didn't know why I would need it, but gave in ultimately. We're lucky she bought my story."

"Gullible cheerleader." Sam mumbled, agreeing. She rolled a cherry tomato around on her plate in thought.

Valerie frowned. The gothic teen's comment was pretty accurate, but Starr was Valerie's friend. She didn't appreciate this girl snubbing her.

"So anyway," Valerie persisted, resisting the urge to call the other girl out. "She said she'd give it to me after school today."

Tuck sighed in contentment "Am I the only one who's going to be extremely happy with the extended weekend we're getting in a few days?"

"No." Val and Sam chorused.

"I just hope I'll be able to use it as an actual _vacation_." Valerie grumbled.

Tucker pushed his spectacles further up on his nose. "What do you mean? If you're talking about the ghosts, don't worry. There are three of us now. We can split the work up."

Valerie shook her head, privately touched by Tucks attempt to lessen her burden. "No, it's not that. It's not my other job either. My dad said that his boss has been hinting on sending him on some business trip on those four days. Chances are if my dad goes he'll take me with him."

"His boss? As in Vlad Masters boss?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Val gave the girl a look. "How'd you know he was my dad's boss?"

"Masters owns Axion Labs, right? Your dad works there. Not that hard to figure out." Sam shrugged.

"Besides," Tucker chimed in. "We busted into that place for the board, remember? We never bust into anywhere without knowing _something_ resembling its history."

"Ow!" Tucker yelled suddenly, dropping his Spork. He glared at Sam, reaching down to rub his shin. "What was that for? Combat boots _hurt_ Sam!"

Valerie's eyes widened. "Wait, are you admitting that you two have done something like that before?" She asked, somewhere between intrigued and alarmed. Come to think of it, they had done amazingly well with the stunt at Axion, just as well as Sam did when patrolling…

Sam scowled. "That's not important. So, do you know why Vlad might want you out of town?"

Valerie paused. What did she tell them?

The bell rang, signaling lunch hour was over. Valerie didn't know if she was relieved that she didn't have to lay her previous affiliation with Masters in the open yet, or disappointed that she hadn't been able to get it over with. She decided she didn't care.

The trio split off to their separate classes, oblivious to the fact that, although they hadn't made a big deal of it, the same question was on all their minds.

"_What is Plasmius up to?"_

* * *

Vlad stood at his desk, his arms behind his back. He watched the cars rush by outside the large office he was standing in, the light from the sun's rays leaking through the glass and lighting up his sober face.

Things were going relatively well. He had had a few hang ups, but nothing serious. He was still in control.

Then why did he feel like somewhere in his calculations he had made a ridiculously large error?

Vlad frowned. It was simply nerves, he told himself. He was off kilter because Daniel had managed to throw a small kink in his plans without even realizing it.

The boy leaving the ghost weapons with the Titans shouldn't have been surprising. Daniel did harbor a hero complex the size of the Grande Canyon after all, and it wasn't as if he himself needed the weapons for protection.

The weapons themselves weren't the problem, nor the fact that Vlad could no longer track his ward, seeing as this could be easily fixed. The problem was what leaving the weapons symbolized. They were Danny's last link to his family, the only thing remaining from the life he had once lived… and he had given them with the Teen Titans, with no plans on retrieving them.

Why? What had Daniel seen in those, those _children_ that drove him to do what he had done? Was he simply giving them a means of protecting themselves, or did the event mean something more?

That bag was Daniels last link to the past. Leaving it, if the boy realized it or not, had revealed that the boy's connection with the Teen Titans was growing strong enough to surpass his link with the past. That despite how much he fooled himself and the Titans with his apparent his lack of trust, he was still willing to give something so close to his heart for the first group to feign acceptance. No matter how he looked at it, Daniel leaving his bag was proof of his trust.

Poor naive child.

Vlad sighed, shaking his head. He felt a certain type of amused disgust for Daniel's clueless ways, but at least they gave him more then enough room to get into the young hybrids head.

"_What is it you search for, Daniel? Do you not realize I know what you need better then even you do?" _A humorless smile graced the billionaire's face. _"So be it then. Since you refuse to see that I am the only one who can understand, I will just have to prove it to you, won't I? Although I wish you hadn't taken such a liking to these amateur do-gooders. It will make cleaning up afterward somewhat… distasteful."_

A sharp rap on Vladimir's office door brought the man back to the present. He turned his cold blue eyes to the entry. He had been expecting this.

"Please, do come in." he said.

Vlad sat down, leaning comfortably against the straight backed chair. "What can I do for you Mr. Grey?"

Vlad watched as his employee walked forward. Damon Grey wasn't as much a timid man as a laid back individual. He didn't jump to conclusions, waiting instead for situations to work themselves out. The one exception was Vlad Masters. Damon had always felt a degree of distrust for his employer, and although he attempted to find a reason for his feelings he found he could not. So, he ignored his emotions. It was easier that way.

Of course Vlad knew he put the man at disease, and found Mr. Grey's discomfort a source of amusement.

Maybe Valerie's smarts hadn't been solely from her mother's side after all.

"I don't mean to bother you Mr. Masters, but I was hoping for an update on that merger deal. You've said something about sending one of your men to oversee things."

Vlad smiled at the man, and watched as Damon attempted to copy the gesture. "Yes, well, I must say I almost forgot about that deal actually. I've had… a lot going on."

"Yes, of course." Damon murmured in understanding. "If it's alright for me to ask, are you any closer to finding Danny?"

Vlad's eyes sparked indignantly, but by the time Damon realized his expression had changed the façade was back in place. "The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if Daniel is back very soon. Provided nothing has happened to him of course."

"I'm sure he'll be alright." Damon assured. "Danny's a good kid."

Vlad smirked. "That he is." _"Unfortunately."_

Vlad stood. He was done here. "Yes Damon, the merger will be taking place, and yes, I am asking you to provide descent security. And you will be paid extra. Enough to move out of that dismal apartment and into a decent house, hmm?"

A wide grin made its way onto Damon's face. "Yes sir, thank you sir." He turned, walking back through the open door, his questions answered.

"Oh, and Damon? I agree with what you said a month ago. Taking your daughter with you would be acceptable. I'll be sure to get a hold of a second airplane ticket." Vlad said.

Damon thanked the man again before shutting the door behind him. Why had he ever doubted Amity's Mayor in the first place?

Damon didn't notice the one strange thing Masters had said until halfway through his commute home, but when he did it puzzled him to no end.

"_And you will be paid extra. Enough to move out of that dismal apartment and into a decent house, hmm?"_

Damon frowned. How had Mayor Masters known the conditions in which he lived?

Vlad smirked when the man left. He couldn't help it. It was all child's play, really.

He shook his head, confidence restored. So Daniel trusted the Titans? It was of no consequence. That would fail him soon enough.

Vlad would come out on top; it was all but guaranteed.

After all, how could he not win?

He was the one who created the game.

* * *

**Kind of weird place to stop it, but it works. Sorry I didn't have the Titans in this one. I'm trying not to overload you with clips from all 3 cities at once. Anyways, seems Vlad's bent on getting Valerie out of town for a while… and Pamela's not to keen on housing the Ghost Getters in her basement. So how did you like Danny's talk with Harry? I tried it multiple ways, and I ended up the most satisfied with this one. I just think Harry's ties to the Fentons outweigh her crazy reporter-ness. **

**So anyways, reviews are treasured, favorites and alerts are heartily appreciated, and everyone who reads this deserves cookies for having to wait so long. Till next time!**


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